In re GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA, 225-4610 (S.D.N.Y. June 5, 2025)
The Office of US Trustee has already appealed the following US District Court, New York decision– In re GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA, 225-4610 (S.D.N.Y. June 5, 2025)– to the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, to test the question of, whether after the US Supreme Court Purdue Pharma decision a chapter 11 plan can provide non-debtors get releases, unless creditors OPT OUT, of that provision, instead of NO non-debtor releases, unless creditors Opt-In (ie affirmatively agree to non-debtors being granted releases.
The debtor agreed not to raise equitable mootness on an appeal only challenging nondebtor opt-out releases.
The U.S. Trustee Program’s appeal from confirmation of the chapter 11 plan for Gol Linhas Aéreas is evidently a test case to find out what qualifies as a “consensual,” nondebtor release following Purdue. Does the ability to opt out constitute consent, or does consent require an affirmative action by a creditor, such as opting in? Plan required creditors to opt out.
Denying a motion for a stay pending appeal, District Judge Denise Cote of New York didn’t throw cold water on the U.S. Trustee. To the contrary, she did say in her opinion that the consent question “raises a sufficiently serious legal issue that deserves resolution.”