Estevez Pena v. Osaigbovo
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:24-cv-03430
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Estevez Pena v. Osaigbovo, Judge Broderick found federal removal allegations defective but allowed defendants 14 days to amend.
The order affects Louis Estevez Pena, Anthony Agheyisi Osaigbovo, and SYSCO Leasing LLC. The defendants must provide adequate citizenship allegations within 14 days or the case will be sent back to New York state court.
What happened
Louis Estevez Pena sued Anthony Agheyisi Osaigbovo and SYSCO Leasing LLC in New York state court. The defendants moved the case to federal court, claiming that the parties were citizens of different states and that the case met the requirements for federal jurisdiction.
Judge Broderick found that the defendants had not adequately shown the parties’ citizenship. They alleged residence rather than domicile for Pena and Osaigbovo, and they did not identify the citizenship of every member of SYSCO Leasing LLC, which is what the law requires for a limited liability company.
In Estevez Pena v. Osaigbovo, Judge Vernon S. Broderick granted the defendants permission to amend their removal notice within 14 days. He stated that the case would be sent back to New York state court if they did not meet that deadline.
The detailed version
- Estevez Pena v. Osaigbovo · No. 1:24-cv-03430
- Vernon Broderick
- Aug. 6, 2024
Background
Louis Estevez Pena filed the action against Anthony Agheyisi Osaigbovo and SYSCO Leasing LLC in New York state court on January 18, 2024. In May 2024, the defendants removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. They asserted that the court had diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 because the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000 and the parties were citizens of different states.
The defendants alleged that Pena was a resident of New York, Osaigbovo was a resident of New Jersey, and SYSCO Leasing LLC was incorporated in New Jersey and had its principal place of business in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Jurisdictional Defects
The court explained that an individual’s citizenship depends on domicile—the person’s permanent home and principal establishment—not merely residence. Because the removal notice alleged Pena’s and Osaigbovo’s residences rather than their domiciles, it did not sufficiently establish their citizenship for diversity jurisdiction.
The court also found that the allegations concerning SYSCO Leasing LLC were legally insufficient. An LLC’s citizenship is based on the citizenship of each of its members, not its place of incorporation or principal place of business. The defendants therefore had to identify and establish the citizenship of every member. The court noted that allegations about ownership alone do not establish LLC membership or citizenship, including when one LLC owns another LLC.
Ruling
The court found that the defendants’ asserted basis for removal was defective but concluded that the defects were not fundamental and could be corrected. The court granted the defendants leave to amend their Notice of Removal and ordered them to file the amended notice within 14 days of the order. If they failed to do so by the deadline, the court stated that it would remand the case to the Supreme Court of the State of New York without further order.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick did not decide the underlying claims in the action.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.