govinfo:USCOURTS-mdd-8_24-cv-01890-0

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND 
 
NNAMDI ANTHONY CHIDEBE- 
UBANNWA, * 
 
Plaintiff, * 
 
v. * Civ. No. DLB-24-1890 
 
SURGCENTER AT NATIONAL * 
HARBOR, LLC, 
 * 
Defendant. 
 
MEMORANDUM OPINION 
On June 28, 2024, Nnamdi Anthony Chidebe -Ubannwa (“Chidebe”) brought this action 
against SurgCenter at National Harbor, LLC d/b/a Harborside Surgery Center (“Harborside”) for 
disability discrimination, retaliation, and failure to grant reasonable accommodations. Harborside 
moved for summary judgment on several grounds, including that Chidebe is not the real party in 
interest. Harborside is correct: Chidebe is not the real party in interest. Chidebe will be afforded 
the opportunity to cure the deficiency pursuant to Rule 17 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 
Accordingly, the Court denies Harborside’s motion for summary judgment without prejudice to 
renewal if the real party in interest proceeds with the case . Non-party Maryland Department of 
Labor’s (“DOL”) motion to quash subpoena also is denied without prejudice to renewal if this case 
proceeds. Enforcement of the subpoena is stayed until the DOL has the opportunity to renew its 
motion if the case proceeds. 
I. Background 
On June 30, 2023, a year before Chidebe filed this lawsuit, he filed a voluntary petition for 
Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. 
In re Chidebe-Ubannwa, No. 23-11082-BFK (Bankr. E.D. Va. June 30, 2023); ECF 53-11, at 5 

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(bankr. pet.).1 At the time of bankruptcy filing, Chidebe had a charge of discrimination against 
Harborside pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). ECF 53-1, 
at 18; ECF 56, at 15, 16. In Schedule A/B of his bankruptcy petition, Chidebe failed to disclose 
the discrimination charge to the bankruptcy court and stated that he did not have any claims against 
third parties, had not filed any lawsuits, had not made any demands for payment, and had no other 
contingent or unliquidated claims of any nature. ECF 53-11, at 32. His bankruptcy case was closed 
on September 29, 2023. Id. at 4. 
On June 28, 2024, Chidebe filed this employment discrimination lawsuit against 
Harborside. ECF 1. Harborside has moved for summary judgment arguing, among other things , 
that the bankruptcy trustee, not Chidebe, is the real party in interest and that only the trustee may 
pursue the pending claims . ECF 53, at 19. Chidebe concedes that he did not disclose his 
employment discrimination claims to the bankruptcy court and that the bankruptcy trustee is the 
real party in interest. ECF 56, at 11. Chidebe “agrees to reopen his bankruptcy, list this matter on 
the debtor’s schedule, and work with the trustee as required,” and he asks for “the opportunity to 
inform the trustee from In Re Chidebe -Ubannwa . . . so that the trustee can decide whether to 
reopen the bankruptcy case, and if so, to ratify the matter or join or be substituted into this matter.” 
Id. at 14. 
 
1 The Court takes judicial notice of the bankruptcy petition. Fed. R. Evid. 201(b). 

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II. Discussion 
“An action must be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest.” Fed R. Civ. P. 
17(a)(1).2 Chidebe is not the real party in interest for the claims he filed in this Court. A review of 
his bankruptcy case shows why. 
Chidebe filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2023. When, as here, a debtor files for Chapter 
7 bankruptcy, “[their] assets immediately are transferred to the bankruptcy estate.” Martineau v. 
Wier, 934 F.3d 385, 388 (4th Cir. 2019) (citing 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)). At that point, the bankruptcy 
trustee serves as representative of the bankruptcy estate. 11 U.S.C. § 323. The trustee, not the 
debtor, has the capacity to pursue claims on behalf of the estate. See i d.; Martineau, 934 F.3d at 
391. 
To ensure the proper administration of the debtor’s assets, the debtor “must disclose to the 
bankruptcy court those assets which now belong to the estate, including ‘all legal [and] equitable 
interests of the debtor.’” Martineau, 934 F.3d at 388 (quoting 11 U.S.C . § 541(a) and citing id. 
§ 521(a)). Legal interests include causes of action, such as employment discrimination claims. See 
id.; Jones v. Safeway, Inc., No. ELH-12-3547, 2014 WL 6871586, at *5 (D. Md. Dec. 3, 2014). 
Chidebe admits that his employment discrimination claims, which were pending before the 
EEOC when he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, were assets of his estate, that he did not disclose 
them to the bankruptcy court, and that his bankruptcy case closed without the bankruptcy court or 
 
2 District courts and the Fourth Circuit have “referred to this real-party-in-interest question as one 
of ‘standing.’” Martineau v. Wier, 934 F.3d 385, 391 & n.3 (4th Cir. 2019) (citing Nat’l Am. Ins. 
Co v. Ruppert Landscaping Co., 187 F.3d 439, 441 (4th Cir. 1999)). The Fourth Circuit clarified 
that the question is not about Article III standing but about “prudential standing.” Id. at 391 n.3. 
Courts tend “to use the terms prudential standing and real party in interest interchangeably when 
discussing a bankruptcy trustee’s sole authority to take action on legal claims that belong to the 
estate.” Id. Thus, this Court “address[es] the issue under the real-party-in-interest framework.” See 
id. 

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trustee knowing about his claims. When, as here, “the debtor’s schedule does not disclose a cause 
of action that accrued pre-petition, that cause of action remains in the property of the estate after 
the bankruptcy case is closed.” Nicholas v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, 173 F. Supp. 3d 250, 255 
(D. Md. 2016) ; see Chartschlaa v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. , 538 F.3d 116, 122 (2d Cir. 2008) 
(“While properly scheduled estate property that has not been administered by the trustee normally 
returns to the debtor when the bankruptcy court closes the case, undisclosed assets automatically 
remain property of the estate after the case is closed. ” (citing 11 U.S.C. § 554(c), (d) )). Because 
Chidebe’s employment discrimination claims automatically became part of his bankruptcy estate 
when he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Chidebe could no longer pursue those claims, only the 
trustee could. And even though the bankruptcy case closed months before Chidebe filed this 
lawsuit, his undisclosed employment discrimination claims nonetheless remained property of the 
bankruptcy estate because the trustee, who never knew about them, neither abandoned nor 
administered them. See 11 U.S.C. § 554(d). So, when Chidebe filed this employment 
discrimination lawsuit in June 2024, his claims were still property of the bankruptcy estate, and 
only the trustee, not Chidebe, had the capacity to pursue them. Thus, the trustee, not Chidebe, was 
and remains the real party in interest. 
When, as here, a case is brought by a plaintiff who is not the real party in interest, “[t]he 
court may not dismiss [t]he action” on that basis “until, after an objection, a reasonable time has 
been allowed for the real party in interest to ratify, join, or be substituted in the action.” Fed. R. 
Civ. P. 17(a)(3); see, e.g., Cooper v. NPL Constr. Co. , No. EA-23-575, WL 1050845, at *4 (D. 
Md. March 11, 2024) (granting 45 days to cure real-party-interest deficiency); Nicholas, 173 F. 
Supp. 3d at 258 (granting 60 days); Jones, 2014 WL 6871586, at *7 (granting 30 days). The real 
party in interest—the trustee — may choose to ratify, join, or pursue the claims as a substituted 

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plaintiff, or the trustee may “abandon” the claims if the trustee deems them “burdensome” or “of 
inconsequential value and benefit to the estate.” 11 U.S.C. § 554(a). 
Pursuant to Rule 17(c), Chidebe is granted 45 days to cure the real -party-in-interest 
deficiency by either substituting the trustee as the real party in interest or obtaining the trustee’s 
abandonment of the claims. If the trustee abandons the claims, Chidebe, as the debtor, may proceed 
in his own right. If the real-party-in-interest deficiency is timely cured, Harborside may renew its 
motion for summary judgment on alternative grounds. If the deficiency is not timely cured, this 
case will be dismissed for failure to prosecute. 
III. Conclusion 
For these reasons, Chidebe is granted 45 days to cure the real-party-in-interest deficiency 
by either substituting the trustee as the real party in interest or obtaining the trustee’s abandonment 
of the claim. The defendant’s motion for summary judgment, ECF 53, is denied without prejudice. 
DOL’s motion to quash subpoena, ECF 51, also is denied without prejudice. Enforcement of the 
subpoena is stayed. A separate order follows. 
 
________________ _____________________________ 
Date Deborah L. Boardman 
 United States District Judge 
June 4, 2026

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