Arthur Copeland, et al. v. C.A.A.I.R., et al.

Tulsa, OK - Civil rights lawyer represented fifty plaintiffs who sued C.A.A.I.R., a/k/a Christian Alcoholics and Addicts in Recovery, claiming that they were enslaved by being placed in a work-camp recovery program rehabilitation center on Fair Labor Standards Act theories. Plaintiffs claimed that they were made to work in a poultry processing plant owned by Simmons Pet Food, Inc. The claimed that they were exploited because they worked without pay and received little in the way of treatment to overcome their addictions.



Defendants moved the court dismiss the Plaintiffs' claims based on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine which strip federal district and bankruptcy courts of their subject matter jurisdiction over suits that can be characterized as appeals or reconsideration of state court judgments. This article discusses the nature of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine and its limitations under the Bankruptcy Code when asserted as a defense to the prosecution of avoidance actions.

12/10/2020 237 OPINION AND ORDER by Judge Terence Kern ; dismissing/terminating case (terminates case) ; granting 131 Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction (Documents Terminated: 195 Joint MOTION for Hearing [Defendants' Motion for Show Cause Hearing], 220 MOTION to Dismiss [Defendants' Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice Certain Plaintiffs for "Failure to Comply" With All [Of Their] Outstanding Discovery Obligations" by June 8, 2020, as required by the Court's Agreed Class Cert, 165 MOTION for Judgment on the Pleadings [Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings Regarding Plaintiffs' Missouri Unjust Enrichment Claim and Brief in Support], 225 MOTION to Compel [Simmons Defendants' Motion to Compel Non-Party Center for Investigative Reporting Inc to Comply With Subpoena Duces Tecum] ) (srt, Dpty Clk) (Entered: 12/10/2020)

12/10/2020 238 JUDGMENT by Judge Terence Kern , entering judgment in favor of Defendants against Plaintiff (terminates case) (srt, Dpty Clk) (Entered: 12/10/2020)