Barrera v. Bethel

Background

Clara Barrera sued Shawn M. Bethel, Vincent S. Bethel, Devin Leon Jackson, and Jackson Transport Systems, LLC in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Orange. Barrera sued both as administrator of the estate of Javier Hernandez and individually. The Jackson Defendants removed the action to the Southern District of New York under the federal removal statutes, asserting that the parties were completely diverse and that more than $75,000 was in controversy.

Barrera moved to remand, meaning to return the case to state court. She argued that removal was untimely, that the defendants had not established diversity of citizenship, and that removal was barred by the forum-defendant rule. She also requested attorney’s fees and costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).

Removal

Federal law generally imposes a one-year limit on removing diversity cases, measured from when the case began in state court. There is a narrow exception if the district court finds that the plaintiff acted in bad faith to prevent removal.

The defendants did not dispute that more than one year had passed before they filed their notice of removal. They argued that Barrera’s discovery responses did not disclose specific economic damages and that her conduct amounted to bad faith. The court rejected that argument. It found that the defendants waited until after the one-year deadline had passed before seeking supplemental discovery responses. The parties’ settlement discussions did not excuse that delay, and the court could not conclude that Barrera acted in bad faith to prevent removal.

The court therefore held that the removal was untimely and improper.

Attorney’s Fees and Costs

Under Section 1447(c), a court may award fees and costs when removal lacked an objectively reasonable basis, but fees ordinarily should be denied when such a reasonable basis existed. The court noted that Barrera’s conduct did not amount to bad faith, but also found that she was not blameless because she waited until after the one-year period to fully answer the defendants’ discovery demands. Exercising its discretion, the court denied Barrera’s request for attorney’s fees and costs.

Disposition

Judge Philip M. Halpern granted Barrera’s motion to remand, remanded the action to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Orange, and denied Barrera’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs. The Clerk was directed to send the state court a copy of the order and close the federal action. All pending matters were terminated.