Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca11-15-11540/USCOURTS-ca11-15-11540-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC
Appellee
Jonathan D. Oswalt
Appellant
Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc.
Appellee

Document Text:

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________

No. 15-11540

Non-Argument Calendar

________________________

D.C. Docket Nos. 3:14-cv-00956-WKW,

3:14-cv-00968-WKW-SRW

JONATHAN D. OSWALT, 

 Plaintiff-Appellant,

 versus

SEDGWICK CLAIMS MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC.,

 Defendant-Appellee.

__________________________________________________________________

D.C. Docket No. 3:14-cv-00968-WKW

JONATHAN D. OSWALT,

 Plaintiff-Appellant,

 versus 

BELLSOUTH TELECOMMUNICATIONS, LLC, 

 Defendant-Appellee.

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________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Alabama

________________________

(December 9, 2015)

Before MARCUS, WILSON and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

Jonathan Oswalt, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s dismissal of 

his employment discrimination claims against BellSouth Telecommunications, 

LLC (“BellSouth”) and Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. 

(“Sedgwick”). The district court dismissed Oswalt’s employment discrimination 

claim because, after he filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, the bankruptcy 

trustee was the only person with standing to prosecute Oswalt’s claims. On appeal, 

Oswalt argues that he regained prudential standing when he re-opened his 

bankruptcy case to properly list his lawsuit against BellSouth and Sedgwick. After 

careful review, we affirm.

 Standing “is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit in federal court.” Alabama 

v. United States Envtl. Protection Agency, 871 F.2d 1548, 1554 (11th Cir. 1989). 

We review standing determinations de novo. Tanner Advert. Group, L.L.C. v. 

Fayette County, 451 F.3d 777, 784 (11th Cir. 2006). Pro se appellants are afforded 

a liberal construction of their pleadings. Tannenbaum v. United States, 148 F.3d 

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1262, 1263 (11th Cir. 1998). However, issues not raised by pro se appellants in 

their pleadings are considered abandoned. Timson v. Sampson, 518 F.3d 870, 874 

(11th Cir. 2008). 

The start of a bankruptcy case creates an estate made up of nearly all of the 

debtor’s assets. 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1). According to the Bankruptcy Code, the 

estate includes “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the 

commencement of the case.” Id. Causes of action belonging to a debtor at the 

initiation of bankruptcy become part of the bankruptcy estate. Parker v. Wendy’s 

Int’l., Inc., 365 F.3d 1268, 1272 (11th Cir. 2004); Barger v. City of Cartersville, 

348 F.3d 1289, 1292 (11th Cir. 2003). After the cause of action becomes part of 

the bankruptcy estate, the trustee, as the representative of the estate, becomes the 

only party with standing to bring that cause of action. Parker, 365 F.3d at 1272; 

Barger, 348 F.3d at 1292-93. The rights of the debtor to the cause of action are 

therefore eliminated, unless the trustee abandons the property in accordance with 

11 U.S.C. § 554. Parker, 365 F.3d at 1272. When property is not administered and 

not abandoned according to § 554, then it remains in the estate unless it falls under 

§ 521(a)(2). 11 U.S.C. §§ 554(c)-(d); see also 11 U.S.C. § 521(a)(1). However, 

when a debtor does not list their interest in a cause of action on the bankruptcy 

schedule, the cause of action remains in the bankruptcy estate after the estate is 

discharged. Parker, 365 F.3d at 1272.

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In this case, Oswalt’s claims against BellSouth and Sedgwick became a part 

of Oswalt’s bankruptcy estate when he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. See id. 

Once the claim became part of the bankruptcy estate, the trustee became the sole 

person with standing to bring the claim. See id.; Barger, 348 F.3d at 1292-93. 

Since the trustee never abandoned the cause of action, and Oswalt failed to 

properly disclose the cause of action to the bankruptcy court, the cause of action is 

still property of the bankruptcy estate and the trustee is the only party with 

standing to bring the cause of action. See Parker, 365 F.3d at 1272. Oswalt’s 

petition to re-open his bankruptcy case and amend his list of assets to properly 

include the lawsuit, in and of itself, does not remedy Oswalt’s lack of standing. A 

trustee, should the bankruptcy court appoint one, would have standing and would 

have the right to sue Sedgwick and BellSouth, but Oswalt does not. See Barger, 

365 F.3d at 1292-93. Further, any claim that Oswalt may have standing for his 

equitable relief claims -- separate from his standing for his rest of his claims -- was 

abandoned when Oswalt failed to raise it in his appellate brief. See Barger, 348 

F.3d 1297; Timson, 518 F.3d at 874. Accordingly, we affirm.

AFFIRMED. 

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