John Bennett v. James Garner

BARBARA MILANO KEENAN, Circuit Judge:

John S. Bennett appeals from the district court's award of summary judgment in favor of his former employer, Virtus Consulting, LLC (Virtus), and its owner, James Garner (collectively, the defendants), in Bennett's action seeking to collect on a state court judgment entered against the defendants. The district court held that Bennett's claims were precluded under Virginia's doctrine of res judicata.

Upon our review, we conclude that Bennett's claims are not precluded, because Bennett could not have brought those claims at the time of his earlier litigation.…