A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that a company name may not be used as a "corporate disguise" for a convicted plaintiff to enforce a contract that was previously found to have been secured via bribery.

In a Feb. 13 opinion, U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that a communications corporation was collaterally estopped from seeking to enforce a contract against the city of Philadelphia and various officials. McHugh dismissed the plaintiff's suit with prejudice.