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Bankruptcy Keyed to Epstein 6th Ed.
Howard Delivery Services, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Co.
Citation:
547 U.S. 651 (2006)Facts
Howard Delivery Service operated a freight trucking business employing up to 480 workers across approximately a dozen states, each requiring Howard to maintain workers’ compensation coverage. Howard contracted with Zurich American Insurance to provide this coverage in ten states. On January 30, 2002, Howard filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Zurich filed an unsecured creditor’s claim seeking priority status for approximately $400,000 in unpaid workers’ compensation insurance premiums, asserting that these unpaid premiums qualified as “contributions to an employee benefit plan” entitled to priority under § 507(a)(5). The case ultimately reached the Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split on whether such premiums qualify for priority status in bankruptcy proceedings.
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