Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes denied a request by a car accident victim who wanted his case against the city to move forward despite an automatic stay that affects lawsuits while Detroit is under chapter 9 protection, the Detroit Free Press reported today. Michael Beydoun filed a motion Aug. 8 seeking relief from the stay for his judgment. He won a $2-million award in his lawsuit that the city appealed. The matter is pending before the Michigan Supreme Court. On Sept. 10, Beydoun’s lawyer argued that the city acted in bad faith by filing for bankruptcy to avoid paying the judgment award. Jeffrey Ellman, a lawyer for the city, said the totality of the city’s debts and not any one issue drove the city to file for bankruptcy. The city also argued that “allowing the continuation of actions such as this would undermine the protections of the automatic stay and jeopardize the city’s efforts to restructure.”
