Opinion ID: 798283
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The District Court's Application of Judicial Estoppel

Text: The appellees moved to dismiss the Guays' claims on multiple grounds, including judicial estoppel. They argued that, because the Guays failed to disclose their claims to the bankruptcy court, they were barred from bringing the same claims in this action. Deferring resolution of the judicial estoppel issue until the factual record was better developed, the district court adopted in March 2009 the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge and dismissed most of the Guays' claims for failure to allege facts supporting the claims. The only surviving claims were Kevin Guay's malicious abuse of process claim against Ford, the City of Concord, and the Concord Police Department, and the Fourth Amendment claims of both Guays against Ford in his personal capacity. After several months of discovery, the remaining defendants moved for summary judgment, again raising the judicial estoppel defense. On November 16, 2010, after de novo review, the district court adopted the recommended decision of the magistrate judge and granted the motion on the basis of the Guays' failure to disclose their claims in their bankruptcy proceeding.