Ugalde v. ASInc.
- Nathanael Cousins
- 5:24-cv-08684
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Ugalde v. ASInc., Judge Cousins ordered defendants to explain by December 18 why the case should not return to state court for lack of jurisdiction.
The defendants must respond to the court’s jurisdictional order, and the case may be returned to state court if subject matter jurisdiction is not established.
What happened
In Ugalde v. ASInc., defendants removed the case to federal court and claimed that the court had diversity jurisdiction because the plaintiff resides in California and the defendants have principal places of business in Nebraska and Delaware.
The court explained that an LLC’s citizenship includes every state where its owners or members are citizens. Because defendants had not provided information about Syngenta Flowers, LLC’s owners or members, the court could not determine whether complete diversity existed.
The court ordered defendants to show cause in writing by December 18, 2024, why the case should not be sent back to state court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Judge Nathanael M. Cousins did not order a remand in this opinion.
The detailed version
- Ugalde v. ASInc. · No. 5:24-cv-08684
- Nathanael Cousins
- Dec. 4, 2024
Background
Defendants removed this case from state court to federal court. They asserted diversity jurisdiction, which generally requires complete diversity of citizenship between the parties and an amount in controversy greater than $75,000. Defendants stated that Plaintiff Antonia Verde Ugalde resides in California, Defendant Advance Services, Inc. has its principal place of business in Nebraska, and Defendant Syngenta Flowers, LLC has its principal place of business in Delaware.
Jurisdictional issue
The court explained that an LLC is a citizen of every state of which its owners or members are citizens. The notice of removal did not provide information about the citizenship of Syngenta Flowers’s owners or members. Without that information, the court could not determine whether complete diversity existed.
Order
The court ordered defendants to show cause in writing by December 18, 2024, why the case should not be remanded to state court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The opinion did not itself order remand or resolve the jurisdiction question. Judge Nathanael M. Cousins issued the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.