Serverino v. Dourado
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:24-cv-07494
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Serverino v. Dourado, Judge Caproni ordered defendants to clarify diversity jurisdiction or explain why the case should be returned to state court.
The order directly affects the defendants, Christopher Michael Dourado and Alexi Delacruz Transportation LLC, who must provide additional jurisdictional information or explain why the case should remain in federal court; it also affects Emiliano Alcantaro Serverino and the case’s forum.
What happened
In Serverino v. Dourado, Emiliano Alcantaro Serverino sued Christopher Michael Dourado and Alexi Delacruz Transportation LLC over injuries allegedly caused by a negligent motor vehicle collision. The defendants moved the case from New York state court to federal court, claiming the federal court had authority because the parties were citizens of different states.
The court explained that the defendants had to establish that authority. Because Alexi Delacruz Transportation LLC is a limited liability company, the defendants had to identify its members and provide the citizenship information needed to determine whether the diversity requirement was met. The filings did not provide that information.
The court ordered the defendants to file an amended removal notice with sufficient facts by October 15, 2024, or show why the case should not be returned to state court for lack of federal authority. Judge Valerie Caproni did not make a final decision on whether the court had jurisdiction in this order.
The detailed version
- Serverino v. Dourado · No. 1:24-cv-07494
- Valerie Caproni
- Oct. 8, 2024
Background
Emiliano Alcantaro Serverino filed a negligence complaint against Christopher Michael Dourado and Alexi Delacruz Transportation LLC in New York Supreme Court, Bronx County. He alleged that the defendants’ negligence in a motor vehicle collision caused him injury. The defendants removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and asserted that the court had diversity jurisdiction, meaning jurisdiction based on the parties’ citizenship and the amount required by federal law.
Jurisdictional issue
The court stated that the defendants, as the parties invoking federal jurisdiction, had the burden to establish that diversity jurisdiction existed. It further explained that a limited liability company has the citizenship of its members. When removal relies on diversity jurisdiction, the removal filing must identify the citizenship of the LLC’s members and provide additional citizenship information if any member is a corporation or another LLC.
The complaint alleged that Alexi Delacruz Transportation LLC was formed under Rhode Island law and had its principal place of business in Rhode Island. But neither the complaint nor the removal notice identified the LLC’s members or alleged their citizenship. The court therefore found that the filings did not adequately establish that the jurisdictional threshold had been met.
Order
The court ordered the defendants, by October 15, 2024, to do one of two things: file an amended notice of removal containing sufficient factual allegations to establish federal jurisdiction, or show cause—explain why—the case should not be remanded to state court for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The order did not itself remand the case or finally determine whether diversity jurisdiction existed. Judge Valerie Caproni entered the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.