This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Gary R. Brown dismissed a complaint against United States Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge Alan S. Trust and others based on judicial immunity. Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon denied a motion for sanctions and adverse inferences. Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks granted a motion to disqualify counsel.

Dismissal Based on Judicial Immunity

In Bonanno v. 41 Sherbrooke Rd., 23 CV 7388 (EDNY, Dec. 1, 2023), Judge Brown dismissed plaintiffs' complaint, which sought to prevent or delay plaintiffs' eviction from a property on Long Island, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1915(e)(2)(B), based on judicial immunity and failure to state a claim.

Plaintiffs alleged that defendants violated the automatic bankruptcy stay of 11 U.S.C. §362(a) by selling the property and transferring title while the bankruptcy stay was in effect, and challenged Bankruptcy Chief Judge Trust's ruling to the contrary. Defendant Ridgewood Savings Bank had obtained a judgment of foreclosure and sale of the Property in 2018, and the foreclosure sale was scheduled for Sept. 12, 2019. Two days prior, plaintiff Bonanno filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, but the sale nevertheless went ahead as scheduled. Plaintiffs claimed that Trust erroneously (a) "ordered that the automatic stay…did not take effect upon the filing" of Bonanno's petition, and (b) denied their motion for consideration.