McKim-Rennie-Hawkridge-Nolan » Donald Thomas Singleton (1920-2013)

Personal data Donald Thomas Singleton 

• Alternative names: D T Singleton, D T Singleton, Donald T Singleton
• He was born on June 7, 1920 in Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey, USA.Sources 2, 3, 5, 6, 8
• Resident:
• Key Biscayne, Miami-Dade, Florida, USA.Source 6
• New York, New York.Source 8
• in the year 1995: Tenafly, New Jersey.Source 4
• in the year 1974: Tenafly, Bergen, New Jersey, USA.
• in the year 1973: Mahwah, NJ.Source 5
• He died on July 15, 2013 in Winter Haven, Polk, Florida, USA, he was 93 years old.Sources 2, 3

  Winter Haven Hospital

• A child of Joseph Lawrence Singleton and Helen Wydella

Household of Donald Thomas Singleton

He is married to (Not public).

They got married on September 6, 1946 at New York City, New York, USA, he was 26 years old.Source 7

Child(ren):

1. (Not public)
2. (Not public)
3. (Not public)
4. Richard L Singleton  1955-2012 

Notes about Donald Thomas Singleton

(also see web links)
STATEMENT OF CASE AND PROCEDURAL HISTORYPrior to July 10, 1985, Oneida Motor Freight, Inc. ("Oneida"), was a party to Collective Bargaining Agreements with various local unions associated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America. The agreements provided that Oneida was obligated to make contributions to several multi-employer pension funds including the Philadelphia Fund and New England Fund.
Pursuant to MPPAA, an employer who withdraws from a multi-employer pension fund, thereby ceasing to make contributions to the fund, incurs withdrawal liability which is the employer's actuarially determined proportion of the unfunded, vested liability of the fund. Moreover, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1301, all companies under common control with the withdrawing employer are deemed to be jointly and severally liable for that withdrawal liability.
On July 10, 1985, Oneida filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey pursuant to Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Law ("Oneida Bankruptcy"). At the same time, it ceased to make contributions to the appellees and shut down the facilities at which participants of the Funds were employed.
At that time, Oneida was a New Jersey corporation owned by Donald T. Singleton, who held 100 percent of the outstanding shares. At the same time, Cardon was a New York corporation owned entirely by Carrie Singleton, the wife of Donald Singleton. The Singletons had been married for some time and were not separated under a decree of divorce or of separate maintenance.
The relationship between Cardon and Oneida is important. Cardon's assets consisted *632 of a terminal located at 1394 Military Road in Tonawanda, New York. It had no income other than that derived from a lease to Oneida. Although the lease provided for a stated monthly rental to be paid by Oneida to Cardon, that amount was not paid on a regular basis. Rather, an inter-company account was maintained on the books of Oneida for Cardon. Each month an entry was made debiting the rent due to Cardon, and an amount sufficient to meet the debts of Cardon was transferred from Oneida to Cardon as an advance against rent. Prior to July 10, 1985, no debts were incurred by Cardon other than those which were covered by the amounts paid by Oneida. The only bills that were paid on a regular basis were mortgages, taxes, and a stipend entitled "wages" to two of the children of Donald T. and Carrie Singleton. Neither performed any work for their wages. After July 10, 1985, the date of the bankruptcy filed by Oneida, Cardon had no income.
On March 6, 1986, the trustees of the Philadelphia Fund sent demand letters to the debtor, Oneida, and other members of the control group, including Cardon, setting forth their obligation to pay Oneida's withdrawal liability. In October of 1985, Cardon was dissolved, and on November 12, 1985, the New England Fund filed a Proof of Claim in the Oneida Bankruptcy for $198,168.00. On November 22, 1985, the Philadelphia Fund filed a Proof of Claim in the Oneida Bankruptcy in the amount of $1,016,716.79. Shortly before that, on November 6, 1985, the New England Fund sent a letter to Cardon and others in the Oneida group advising them of their obligation to pay Oneida's withdrawal liability. The Philadelphia Fund sent a similar demand to Cardon, Oneida, and others in the control group by letter of March 6, 1986.
Negotiations proceeded in the Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey, where the Oneida bankruptcy proceeding was pending. The Pension Funds participated in the negotiations and the drafting of a disclosure statement of a plan of reorganization for Oneida. This was memorialized in a document entitled the "Singleton Settlement Agreement." According to this plan, the estate would release all claims against Singleton, members of his family, and members of the control group in consideration of the contribution of $2 million to be made by Singleton, his relatives, and corporations owned and controlled by him or his relatives. The Funds objected to the proposed plan of reorganization and settlement agreement. The plan was amended and specifically excluded any claims involving withdrawal liability under the MPPAA.
In July of 1986, Cardon sold its real estate and trucking terminal for $1,200,000.00. In August of that year, $200,000.00 and $180,000.00 from the proceeds of the sale were paid to Donald Singleton, allegedly for a debt, and to Carrie Singleton in behalf of a payment of an alleged debt due to OMF Pennsauken, Inc, a company in the control group. In September of 1986, the remaining proceeds from the sale $705,000.00 were paid by Carrie Singleton, the sole stockholder of Cardon, to Oneida. According to the appellant, the contribution of $705,000.00 represented a payment for the benefit of all creditors of Oneida pursuant to the Plan of Reorganization. Despite the receipt of the notice from the Funds of the Funds' status as a creditor, neither Cardon nor Carrie Singleton took any steps to investigate the question of the creditor status of the Funds, nor did Cardon initiate arbitration or request information concerning this obligation within the time limits prescribed by MPPAA, which expired prior to January 12, 1987. Further, no payments were made in accordance with the demands which were made by the Funds. On January 12, 1987, the Funds initiated this action by filing an involuntary petition of bankruptcy against Cardon.
The records of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance indicate that Cardon's certificate of dissolution was filed on September 22, 1986. Although the assets of Cardon were sold in July of 1986, distribution was not made to Carrie Singleton until August and September of 1986. This was several months after Cardon had received notice of the creditor status of the *633 Fund and several months after the initial payment was due.
On October 30, 1986, the New England Fund commenced an action for collection of withdrawal liability in the United States District Court in Massachusetts alleging that Donald T. Singleton and six other corporations, not including Cardon, were under the common control of Oneida. The Philadelphia Fund has intervened in that action which is still pending in the District of Massachusetts. Cardon is not a party in that action.
In March of 1987, Donald T. Singleton and six of his corporations, including Cardon, instituted a declaratory judgment action against the Funds concerning withdrawal liability in the United States District Court in New Jersey. This action was stayed by the District Court Judge and finally was administratively dismissed without prejudice to reinstate pending the completion of discovery in other cases. In August of 1988, the New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund [New York Fund] instituted an action for collection of withdrawal liability in the Northern District of New York. Donald Singleton and five other entities are defendants there, but not Cardon.
In answer to the involuntary petition, Cardon admitted it was dissolved and that Donald Singleton had received the net proceeds of the sale in the amount of at least $705,000.00, which proceeds were used to satisfy his obligation under the Oneida Plan of Reorganization. Neither of the Funds had notice of the dissolution of Cardon or the transfer of its assets to satisfy Oneida debts.
There came a time in the bankruptcy proceeding when Cardon made requests for certain documents which related to the calculation of the amount due. The Funds objected to these requests and moved for a protective order. The protective order was granted by Bankruptcy Judge McGuire on December 3, 1987. Judge McGuire determined that the debtor had timely failed to seek arbitration and thus defaulted and waived its right to a decision on the amount due. In effect, the court also ruled that there was no bona fide dispute as to Cardon's membership in the Oneida control group. The Bankruptcy Court held that Cardon's failure to initiate the review and arbitration procedure required by MPPAA constituted a waiver of any defense as to either the existence or the amount of Cardon's withdrawal liability. This ruling was affirmed by this court in In re Cardone Realty, 99 B.R. 202 (W.D.N.Y.1989).

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Timeline Donald Thomas Singleton

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