Varee English v. Santa Anita Race Track

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Varee English brought suit alleging that his former employer, Santa Anita Race Track, wrongfully terminated his employment based on race and in retaliation for a prior suit that he brought against another southern California racetrack operator. English also sued two of his former co-workers, Ronald Taggart and Mark Mattick (“individual defendants”), alleging harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In addition, he sued the Federation of California Racing Associations, Inc. (“Federation”), of which Santa Anita is a member, based on an “integrated enterprise” theory. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

While English’s appeal was pending before this court, Santa Anita’s parent company petitioned for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This appeal was stayed pending the outcome of those proceedings. We took judicial notice of records from the bankruptcy proceeding. Those records demonstrate that English’s attorney received notice of the bankruptcy action, the deadline for filing a proof of claim in the bankruptcy proceeding, and a proof of…