B&B Founding Partner, Todd J. Bennett, was quoted in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly recently about a decision of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, holding that a plaintiff who had not initially disclosed a sexual harassment case in her bankruptcy filings was not prevented from bringing her sexual harassment claim in court. The defense argued that the alleged sexual harassment plaintiff should be judicially estopped from bringing her claim because she received the benefit of bankruptcy relief without disclosing this potential asset to creditors.
Initially, the Plaintiff in Mahabir v. Crocker failed to disclose her claims for sexual harassment in her bankruptcy proceeding. Later, with the permission of the Bankruptcy Court, she was allowed to amend her filings in order to disclose those claims and sought to pursue them for the benefit of the bankruptcy estate.
Attorney Bennett, who was not involved in Mahabir, spoke to Lawyers Weekly to give insight into the situation. Attorney Bennett noted that many employment lawyers would not have considered how their client’s bankruptcy might affect the outcome of their employment litigation matter. For this reason, Attorney Bennett said, “attorneys should develop relationships with attorneys outside their practice area who can provide advice on issues that seem tangential to their own expertise but that can have potentially sweeping implications.”
“Of course, an ancillary benefit of fostering relationships with attorneys outside of your practice area is that this is beneficial for symbiotic business development,” Attorney Bennett told Lawyers Weekly.
Attorney Bennett’s practice includes employment law and litigation, business/commercial litigation, as well as real estate litigation.
