Vera v. Amazon Logistics Inc.

Background

Marcella Vera originally filed a summons and complaint against Amazon Logistics Inc. and John Doe in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Bronx County, on August 18, 2022. On March 21, 2024, she filed an amended summons and amended verified complaint adding JB Coast Trucking LLC and Juan Quila Moran as defendants. Vera alleged that these two defendants were negligent in a motor-vehicle collision that injured her.

On November 22, 2024, JB Coast Trucking LLC and Juan Quila Moran transferred the case from state court to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. They asserted that the federal court had diversity jurisdiction, which is jurisdiction based on the parties’ citizenship and the amount in dispute.

Removal deadline and bad-faith exception

Federal law generally bars removal based on diversity jurisdiction more than one year after the action began, unless the court finds that the plaintiff acted in bad faith to prevent removal. The court had previously ordered the removing defendants either to provide facts showing that their removal was timely and that Vera acted in bad faith, or to explain why the case should not be sent back to state court.

The removing defendants amended their notice of removal but did not adequately explain why the one-year limit did not apply. They alleged that they contacted Vera’s counsel on November 21, 2024, about her claimed injuries and settlement demand, but counsel did not return the call. They also alleged that Vera did not notify their insurance carrier that they had been added to the case until July 2024.

Ruling

The court stated that removal laws must be strictly construed against removal and that doubts should be resolved in favor of sending a case back to state court. It explained that courts examine whether there is enough evidence that a plaintiff strategically acted to prevent removal, such as by taking action shortly after the one-year anniversary of the case’s commencement.

The court held that it could not infer bad faith from actions taken after the one-year removal period had expired because those actions were disconnected from any delay in filing the amended pleadings and were innocuous. The court’s footnote also stated that nothing in the amended notice of removal suggested that Vera acted in bad faith by delaying the addition of the removing defendants.

The court therefore ordered that the case be REMANDED and directed the Clerk of Court to remand it to state court. The opinion did not decide whether the defendants were negligent or otherwise resolve the underlying motor-vehicle injury claims.