Beard v. United States

NOTE: This order is n0nprecedential. United States Court of AppeaIs for the Federal Circuit SUSAN F. BEARD, Plaintiff-Appellee, V. UNITED STATES, Defendcmt-Appellant. 2011-5107 . Appea1 from the United States C0urt of Federal Clain1s in case no. 10-CV-577, Judge Char1es F. LettoW. ON MOTION Before BRYSoN, SoHALL, and PRosT, Circu,1Lt Judges. SCHALL, Circuit Ju,dge. ORDER The United StateS moves for a stay, pending appea1, of proceedings in an action filed by Susan F. Beard in the United States Court of Federa1 Clairns in which Beard BEARD V. US 2 seeks a refund of payments made to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on penalties imposed against Beard under 26 U.S.C. §6672 for unpaid employment taxes Beard opposes the motion. The government replies. The government’s appeal, which is interlocutory and was filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a), is from a deci- sion by the Court of Federal Claims that (1) under 26 U.S.C. § 6331 enjoined the government from proceeding in a later-filed case against Beard in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas for collec- tion of the same employment tax penalties and (2) denied the governments motion to suspend the Court of Federal Claims case until completion of the district court case. Beard v. United States, 99 Fed. Cl. 147 (2011). The Court of Federal Claims subsequently denied a motion by the government for a stay of proceedings pending appeal. The party requesting a stay bears the burden of show- ing that the circumstances justify an exercise of the court’s discretion based on consideration of four factors, the first two of which are the most critical: (1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies. Hilton v. Brau,n,skill, 481 U.S. 770, 776 (198'7). Without prejudicing the ultimate disposition of this case by a merits panel, we conclude based upon the papers submitted that the government has not met its burden of showing it would be irreparably harmed in the absence of a stay of the Court of Federal Claims pr0ceedings. 3 BEARD V. US Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THATf The motion for a stay, pending appeal, of the proceed- ings before the Court of Federal Claims is denied. FoR THE CoURT /s/ Jan Horbaly Date J an Horbaly Clerk F cc: Farley P. Katz, Esq. 6l='Ei?PEA1.S FOR ellen Pag@ nelson ssa _°E“’“°'"°"" NOV. 03 2011 s23 .|AN HORBALY CLERK