New Bankruptcy Cases - October 9, 2000

O'Loughlin v. County Of Orange	9th Cir.	A cause of action under the Americans With Disabilities Act is a "claim" for bankruptcy purposes when the defendant's subject conduct (an employer's failure to make a reasonable accommodation) occurred prepetition, even though the employee did not receive a right to sue letter until after the employer's bankruptcy was filed. When a plaintiff alleges a cause of action under the Americans With Disabilities Act, and some of defendant's conduct occurred before defendant's bankruptcy discharge, while other conduct occurred postconfirmation, claims based on preconfirmation conduct are barred by the bankruptcy discharge but the trial court errs in dismissing the claims pertaining to postconfirmation conduct. The defendant/employer's repeated failures to offer reasonable accommodations did not constitute a single "continuing violation of the ADA (which would have related back to the original, prepetition violation), but instead were distinct, independent violations of the statute, such that liability for postconfirmation violations was not barred by the employer's bankruptcy discharge.
In re Little	8th Cir. BAP	If a party appealing from an order converting a case from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13 fails to obtain a stay pending appeal, the confirmation and implementation of the debtor's Chapter 13 plan will render the appeal moot.
In re Enggren's Enterprises, Inc.	8th Cir BAP	A Chapter 7 trustee did not waive the right to challenge a secured creditor's inventory lien as a preference when the trustee enlisted the aid and expertise of the secured creditor to liquidate the debtor's inventory. The written agreement between the trustee and the secured creditor regarding liquidation of the inventory unambiguously preserved the status quo of the parties and the rights of the trustee to challenge the lien in the future.