Doss v. Bailey

CORRECTED
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
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m 00-60892
Summary Calendar
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IN THE MATTER OF:
EVAN DOSS, JR.,
Debtor.
EVAN J. DOSS, JR.,
Appellant,
VERSUS
EILEEN SHAFFER BAILEY,
Appellee.
_________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Mississippi
_________________________
January 18, 2002

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Before JONES, SMITH, and
EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Evan Doss, Jr., challenges a bankruptcy
court order approving a settlement and
payment of an administrative fee. We vacate
the judgment of the district court and remand
to the district court with direction to dismiss
the appeal for want of standing.
I.
The Evan J. Doss, Jr. Corporation (the
“Corporation”) filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy;
among the assets were an AM radio station
and a construction permit for an FM station.
The Corporation sold both stations with the
approval of the bankruptcy court.
After the sales were completed, Eileen
Bailey, the Corporation’s bankruptcy trustee,
filed an application for approval to pay a $400
fee to the FCC to facilitate the sale of the AM
station. The trustee also filed a motion for
approval of a settlement agreement among
Leola Dickey, Doss’s sister, the Ole Brook
Broadcasting Co., and the trustee, under
which Dickey agreed to drop her application
to the FCC for a construction license for an
FM station in exchange for a $3000 payment
from Ole Brook, which sought to submit a
rival bid for the same license. Doss objected
to the payment of the fee and the agreement,
but his claims were rejected by the bankruptcy
court, whose decision was affirmed by the
district court.
II.
“To have standing to appeal a bankruptcy
order, a party must show that it was directly
and adversely affected pecuniarily by the or-
der, or that the order diminished its property,
increased its burdens or impaired its rights.”
In re Cajun Elec. Power Coop., Inc., 69 F.3d
746, 749 (5th Cir. 1995) (quotations omitted),
modified on rehearing on other grounds, 74
F.3d 599 (5th Cir. 1996). According to the
record, Doss is not a creditor, shareholder, or
debtor of the Doss Corporation; when
questioned by the bankruptcy judge, he was
unable to specify whether he was an officer.
Because there is no evidence that the
bankruptcy court order has in any way harmed
Doss or impaired his rights, he lacks standing
to challenge it on appeal.
The judgment of the district court,
affirming the decision of the bankruptcy court,
is VACATED and REMANDED to the
district court with instruction that the district
court dismiss the appeal for want of standing.
* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has
determined that this opinion should not be published
and is not precedent except under the limited
circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.

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