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Investors Try to Push Half-Built Cancer Center Into Bankruptcy

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Several investment funds with ties to Texas billionaire Tim Headington are trying to push an unfinished Atlanta cancer treatment center into bankruptcy protection, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Lawyers for Zeitgeist Capital LLC and two other funds filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition on Friday for the partially built Emory Proton Therapy Center, stating in court documents that the funds are owed more than $8.2 million. The filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., sets a 20-day timeline for Emory Proton Therapy Center officials to respond to the involuntary case. They didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday. The 107,000-square-foot center, which broke ground in 2013, is scheduled to open in late 2017 and would be the third center developed by California-based Advanced Particle Therapy LLC to begin treating cancer patients. Advanced Particle Therapy officials have raised more than $750 million for their proposal to build four cancer treatment centers across the country but still need at least $110 million, court papers said.

Gallup Diocese Called on to Release Church Records

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An attorney who filed 13 lawsuits against the Diocese of Gallup, N.M., on behalf of alleged victims of clerical sexual abuse said the disclosure of church records will be an essential part of any settlement in the diocese’s chapter 11 case, the Albuquerque Journal reported today. Robert Pastor, a Phoenix attorney, said claimants and their attorneys in the case are adamant that the diocese must release church records, including the personnel files of accused priests. Attorneys working toward a settlement told Bankruptcy Judge David Thuma last week that they intend to file a reorganization plan with the court later this month. The Diocese of Gallup in 2013 became the nation’s ninth Roman Catholic diocese to file for chapter 11 protection in response to civil lawsuits filed by alleged victims of clerical sex abuse.

Report Due Soon That Could Break Deadlock on Caesars Bankruptcy

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A former Watergate prosecutor is due to release a report on a court-ordered fraud investigation into a series of corporate deals involving Caesars Entertainment Corp. that could break a deadlock in one of the biggest fights on Wall Street over the bankruptcy of Caesars’ casino operating unit, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc. (CEOC), Reuters reported on Friday. Richard Davis and a team of lawyers and advisers have spent a year trying to determine if Caesars fairly tried to rescue CEOC, or stripped away the best properties and left it with faded regional casinos and a crushing $18 billion of debt. The examiner said in a court filing that the report would be filed under seal the week of March 7 with an outside date of March 14, along with a public summary of Davis' findings. The full report will be made public in the weeks following the initial, redacted release. Caesars has proposed injecting $1.5 billion into its operating unit to settle allegations of asset-stripping, and the examiner's report could show whether or not that amount is fair.

Judge Blocks Class-Action Lawsuits Against Fresh & Easy

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Fresh & Easy LLC cleared a number of major hurdles yesterday when a bankruptcy judge agreed to shield the former supermarket operator from several potentially onerous and expensive lawsuits, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Following a hearing yesterday, Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon denied two class-action requests from former employees who sued the company, saying the litigation "would disrupt the progress of the case." Fresh & Easy filed for chapter 11 in October and has since been working to sell off its stores and other remaining assets, a process that is "well underway," the judge said. The former employees sued Fresh & Easy for paid-time-off benefits they say they are owed and for allegedly failing to properly notify them of the abrupt loss of their jobs when the grocer shuttered its stores.

Tilton's Firm Is Sued over 1,200 TransCare Workers' Sudden Firing

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Lynn Tilton's Patriarch Partners LLC has been sued over last week's abrupt firing of roughly 1,200 workers at TransCare Corp, shortly after the privately held ambulance company filed for bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported yesterday. TransCare workers accused Patriarch, whose portfolio included the Brooklyn-based company, of failing to provide 60 days notice before terminating them without cause, violating federal and state employment laws known as the WARN Act. Three lawsuits filed in various New York City federal courts seek to recoup up to 60 days wages and benefits, plus unpaid wages for work performed prior to TransCare's bankruptcy. One of the lawsuits also names TransCare as a defendant.