A bankruptcy trustee’s allegedly aggressive questioning of a debtor’s English-speaking skills is the subject of a complaint on file with a federal bankruptcy watchdog, a legal publication has reported.
The New York Law Journal Monday reported that consumer bankruptcy attorney William Ward Saxton filed a complaint against bankruptcy trustee John S. Pereira, accusing him of berating a debtor about her ability to understand English at a meeting in her bankruptcy case last month.
The NYLJ (subscription required) describes the letter thusly:
According to Saxton’s letter, when the debtor’s attorney during the July 16 hearing requested an interpreter for the client, a U.S. citizen, Pereira demanded to know how the debtor was able to pass an American citizenship exam if she did not understand English.
He also demanded to know how the debtor was able to communicate with her attorney and understand and sign a bankruptcy petition in English, the letter said. A friend of the debtor told Pereira that she explained everything to the debtor in Spanish.
Saxton wrote that Pereira moved to adjourn the case. But Saxton, who was awaiting his client’s case to be called, stood up and told Pereira that he could not adjourn and that he violated the debtor’s civil rights.
The NYLJ further quotes Mr. Saxton’s letter:
“The trustee’s demeanor was rude as he loudly asked the debtor, ‘Do you understand ANY English??’” Saxton wrote. “The debtor appeared frightened and confused.”
Reached Monday, Mr. Saxton confirmed to Bankruptcy Beat that he filed such a complaint.
Mr. Pereira didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday or Tuesday. However, he told the NYLJ that he did nothing wrong. He said his questions weren’t aggressive behavior but were “follow-up questions.” He also told NYLJ that he has provided the bankruptcy watchdog that received the complaint, the U.S. Trustee Program, with his response and that they’ve “heard my side of it.”
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Trustee Program, which monitors all corporate and consumer bankruptcy proceedings for fraud and abuse, on Monday provided this statement to Bankruptcy Beat:
“Since 2009, when we launched our Language Assistance Program, we have worked hard to ensure that bankruptcy debtors with limited English proficiency have access to telephone interpreter services—funded by the U.S. Trustee Program and at no cost to the debtor—as needed to participate fully in the mandatory section 341 meeting of creditors. In FY 2013, private trustees made more than 26,000 calls to interpreters, with Brooklyn and New York City among the top 10 locations for use. The USTP continuously advocates for the use of the telephone interpreter service, trains chapter 7 and chapter 13 trustees on its use, and follows up on all complaints about trustees, interpreters, or others involved in the Language Assistance Program.”
Mr. Saxton said Monday that he hasn’t heard anything about the status of his complaint, which he said concerned a “traumatic” situation for the debtor and the attorneys involved.
“This needs to stop,” he told Bankruptcy Beat. “It’s not a criminal proceeding.”
Write to Jacqueline Palank at jacqueline.palank@wsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @PalankJ.
from WordPress http://ift.tt/1mPBZ80
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment