Boadi v. Stamford Uniform Linen Towel And Napkin, LLC
- Jesse Furman
- 1:25-cv-00010
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Boadi v. Stamford Uniform Linen Towel, Judge Furman ordered defendants to clarify citizenship or face remand.
Joseph Boadi, Stamford Uniform Linen Towel and Napkin, LLC, and Reynaldo Mesa Graciano Jr.; the order concerns whether the case may remain in federal court.
What happened
Boadi v. Stamford Uniform Linen Towel And Napkin, LLC concerns defendants’ attempt to move the case to federal court. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
The defendants filed a removal notice, but the court found that it listed the plaintiff’s residence rather than citizenship. After the defendants filed an amended notice, the court found that this problem remained.
Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered the defendants to file another amended notice by January 14, 2025, stating the plaintiff’s citizenship. If they could not truthfully show complete diversity of citizenship, the court said it would send the case back to New York state court without further notice.
The detailed version
- Boadi v. Stamford Uniform Linen Towel And Napkin, LLC · No. 1:25-cv-00010
- Jesse Furman
- Jan. 10, 2025
Background
The defendants, Stamford Uniform Linen Towel and Napkin, LLC and Reynaldo Mesa Graciano Jr., filed a notice seeking to move the case from state court to federal court on January 2, 2025. They cited 28 U.S.C. § 1441(c) as the basis for removal.
On January 7, 2025, the court identified problems with the notice and ordered the defendants to file an amended notice by January 14. The defendants filed an amended notice on January 9. The court found that the amended notice corrected some problems but still alleged only Joseph Boadi’s residence, not his citizenship.
Court’s ruling
The court explained that residence alone does not establish citizenship for purposes of determining whether the parties have complete diversity of citizenship. The court gave the defendants one final opportunity to correct the removal papers and ordered them to file a second amended notice stating Boadi’s citizenship by January 14, 2025.
The court stated that if the defendants could not truthfully allege complete diversity of citizenship by that deadline, the action would be remanded—sent back—to the Supreme Court of New York, County of Bronx, without further notice. The court also ordered the defendants to serve the order on the plaintiffs within two business days and file proof of service. Judge Jesse M. Furman signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.