In Re Sambo's Restaurants, Inc., a California Corporation, Debtor. Sambo's Restaurants, Inc., a California Corporation v. Peggy Wheeler

Sambo’s Restaurants, Inc. (Sambo’s) appeals the district court’s order reversing a bankruptcy court’s denial of Wheeler’s motion to amend her purported informal proof of claim. We affirm the district court.

I

Sambo’s filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 1101-1174 , on November 27, 1981, in the Central District of California. As of that date, the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362 (a) enjoined any of Sambo’s creditors whose claims arose prior to the filing date from filing suit against Sambo’s. The bankruptcy court set July 12,1982, as the last day for filing proofs of claim.

On February 19,1982, while the automatic stay was in effect, Wheeler filed a wrongful death suit against Sambo’s in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Wheeler’s claim arose out of the death of her husband on August 4, 1981, before Sambo’s filed in the bankruptcy court, and thus her suit was filed in violation of the automatic stay. On March 4, 1982, Sambo’s house counsel wrote to Wheeler’s attorney, informed him of the bankruptcy proceedings and stay, and demanded that he dismiss his suit. The letter stated that…