Opinion
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
MEMORANDUM DECISION
PETER W. BOWIE, Chief Judge United States Bankruptcy Court
In January, 2008, Judge Hargrove, now retired, ruled on plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, resolving some issues, but denying plaintiff's motion as to defendants' good faith defense. Judge Hargrove concluded that defendants had put forth sufficient "competing evidence" that the issue of good faith was a "classic triable" one.
Plaintiff did not give up. Rather, after pursuing alternative avenues of resolution, plaintiff moved again for summary judgment on defendants' good faith defense. After extensive briefing and oral argument the Court took the matter under submission. Since then, the Court has returned time and again to the deposition transcripts and other documents submitted by the parties. Moreover, the Court has in mind that there probably is no additional information which would be brought out at trial. Nevertheless, the Court concludes that it cannot grant summary judgment on the present record.
In the Court's view, it is a very close question, made so by defendants' relative inaction about the Whitfield allegations even though those allegations revealed Whitfield's knowledge of the side deal defendants had with the debtor which was not generally know. To simply accept representations that Whitfield was a disgruntled former employee when Whitfield revealed his level of knowledge about the dealings between defendants and CMC is very troublesome to the Court. But, as Judge Hargrove noted, good faith is an inherently factually intensive determination, and the Court is unwilling to find its absence based upon the disputed facts of the present record, in effect, as a matter of law.
Accordingly, plaintiff's pending motion for summary judgment must be, and hereby is denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED.