Opinion
Case No: 2:13-cv-766-FtM-38DNF
04-23-2014
NICKEY GREGORY COMPANY MIAMI, LLC, a Florida limited liability company Plaintiff, v. GOURMET GARDENER, INC., RANDY COOK and KIMBERLY COOK, Defendants.
ORDER
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This matter comes before the Court on the Defendants, Randy and Kimberly Cook's Suggestion of Bankruptcy (Doc. #6) filed on November 29, 2013. The Corporate Director Defendants Randy and Kim
berly Cook inform the Court that they voluntarily filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida a Petition for Protection pursuant to United States Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. Chapter 13.
By operation of Title 11 U.S.C. § 362, the above-styled action is stayed as to the Director Defendants Randy and Kimberly Cook. Title 11 U.S.C. § 362 stipulates that an automatic stay is created upon the filing of any bankruptcy petition. See Ellison v. Northwest Eng'g Co., 707 F.2d 1310, 1311 (11 th Cir. 1983). The purpose of the stay is "to give the debtor a breathing spell from his creditors." I d. The case is not stayed as to the Corporate Co-Defendant Defendant Gourmet Gardner, Inc. because the protection of the automatic stay does not apply to the co-defendants who are not in bankruptcy. Id. (citing Dewitt v. Daley, 336 BR. 552, 556 (S.D. Fla. 2006) (holding that the case law is clear that extending a stay to non-bankrupt co-defendants is done rarely, justified only in unusual circumstances).
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED:
(1) This case is STAYED as to the Corporate Director Defendants Randy and Kimberly Cook only. The case remains open as to the Co-Defendant Gourmet Gardner, Inc.
(2) The Plaintiff is directed to inform the Court in writing when the bankruptcy proceedings are complete and the stay may be lifted
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida this 23rd day of April, 2014.
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SHERI POLSTER CHAPPELL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Copies: All Parties of Record