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Creditor's rights to pursue civil action against employer for filing for bankruptcy

A former employer of mine suddenly closed their doors and stiffed me out of 5 months of wages (they kept putting me off, saying checks from clients were late) - about $35,000. No severance, no waring, just - done. They then filed corporate bankruptcy. I attended the hearings and even questioned them (the husband & wife business owners). Later the bankruptcy 'judge' (a court-appointed lawyer handling BK cases) said they were possibly guilty of co-mingling personal & corporate finances but there was nothing he could do since researching such things is tough. They made sure they kept all their cars, paid off $100,000 to their parents in 'loans' that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but of course the faithful employees got nothing.
Can I sue them in civil court for the money? Or does the corporate BK filing protect them? What about the damage to my credit rating, pain and suffering, etc.?
In other words, do I have ANY legal recourse?

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Attorney answers (1)

Reputation Level 5
As a general answer, a corporate bankruptcy filing would not protect the shareholders of the corporation from a civil suit based on an alter ego theory, which is what the bankruptcy judge (trustee?) was probably talking about. Are you sure that only the corporation filed bankruptcy?

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