Opinion ID: 2791245
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the district court’s “postjudgment” orders

Text: After the district court entered its order granting “partial judgment,” the Receiver for Cleveland Imaging filed a “suggestion of bankruptcy” to notify the court of Cleveland Imaging’s voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Therein, the Receiver “suggest[ed] that the action against Cleveland Imaging” had been “stayed” pursuant to the automatic bankruptcy-stay provision, 11 U.S.C. § 362. The district court then withdrew the reference to the bankruptcy court and lifted the automatic stay. Out of concern about “where the defendants have assets to satisfy [the district court’s] judgment,” Aetna asked for “postjudgment discovery” to obtain documents concerning whether the defendants “have transferred money out of their business entities to other persons.” Meanwhile, 2920 filed a motion asking the district court to certify its “partial judgment” as “final and appealable” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). The district court denied the motions to certify partial judgment for interlocutory appeal without explanation two days later. The district court also granted Aetna’s motion for “postjudgment discovery” in a very brief order that same day without explanation. The district court held a hearing in which Aetna’s counsel represented that, following the district court’s “partial judgment” opinion, 2920 started “sending large round numbers out of 2920 to an entity called Spring Klein Surgery Center, which is listed [at a particular] address. But when you go out there, there’s no hospital.” Aetna’s counsel represented that wire transfers of large round numbers 3 Case: 14-20734 Document: 00512991621 Page: 4 Date Filed: 04/02/2015 No. 14-20734 totaling “over $6 million ha[d] gone to [Spring Klein Surgery Center],” and that Aetna expects “that another [$]6 million in checks has gone to that same entity.” Accordingly, Aetna asked the court for “some monitoring if [2920 is] going to continue to send money out to this entity or any other entity in these round numbers” and that 2920 “get approval from you before they do so.” The district court then essentially ordered an asset freeze from the bench. The court ordered: “No payments to Spring Klein until some explanation has been made of what they’re for, no transfers that are not in response to a purchase order or some other objective commercial transaction.” After 2920 filed objections, the district court signed Aetna’s proposed order on November 13, 2014, and thereby ordered that “[t]here shall be no further transfer of funds from 2920 other than to pay bills in the ordinary course of its business (i.e., rent and payroll), including no further transfer of funds to Spring Klein Surgical Hospital, without permission from the Court.” Petitioner 2920 seeks mandamus relief from these orders. Importantly, at no point has Aetna moved for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order (TRO), and at no point has the district court issued a TRO or expressly granted a motion for a preliminary injunction.