Alleged Filing of Frivolous Involuntary Bankruptcy Petition Was Not Barred by Res Judicata

In Sarno v. Thermen, 239 Ill. App. 3d 1034, 1045, 608 N.E.2d 11, 19, 180 Ill. Dec. 889 (1992), a corporation and one of its shareholders filed a state law conspiracy claim alleging that the corporation's creditors had filed a frivolous involuntary bankruptcy petition. Even though the shareholder's claim addressed the same wrongful filing, the appellate court found that it was not barred by res judicata because the claim would not have been a core proceeding in the bankruptcy court since it concerned allegations of conspiracy arising under state law. Sarno, 239 Ill. App. 3d at 1047, 608 N.E.2d at 20. Furthermore, the damages sought by the corporation and by the shareholder represented two distinctly different types of injuries. Sarno, 239 Ill. App. 3d at 1048, 608 N.E.2d at 20. In Sarno, the claims against the creditors had not been asserted in the bankruptcy court.