Court enforces Chesapeake plan against Brown-Suessenbach plaintiffs
The court enforced Chesapeake’s confirmed Chapter 11 plan and confirmation order against the Brown-Suessenbach plaintiffs, permanently enjoining them from continuing RICO-based, unjust-enrichment and conversion claims against the reorganized debtors and former CFO Domenic J. Dell’Osso Jr. in his Chesapeake capacity. The order enforcing the confirmation order and plan requires the plaintiffs to dismiss the discharged or released claims within 10 business days of entry.
The ruling shuts down an attempt to recast long-running royalty-payment disputes as new post-effective-date RICO claims, preserving the finality of Chesapeake’s February 2021 plan discharge. The carveout is narrow: claims against Dell’Osso solely in his separate role as an officer or director of Access Midstream Partners were not released and remain for the Pennsylvania court to sort out.