McMahon v. BJW Realty LLC
- Jesse Furman
- 1:25-cv-01323
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In McMahon v. BJW Realty LLC, Judge Furman ordered plaintiffs to amend their complaint to allege citizenship needed for diversity jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs, Patrick Joseph McMahon and Sandra Gagliardy McMahon, must amend their complaint to address the citizenship allegations supporting federal diversity jurisdiction; BJW Realty LLC must be served with the order.
What happened
In McMahon v. BJW Realty LLC, Patrick Joseph McMahon and Sandra Gagliardy McMahon invoked federal jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship.
The court had identified problems with their original complaint. Their amended complaint fixed one problem but alleged only the parties’ residences, not their citizenship, which was insufficient to establish diversity jurisdiction.
Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered the plaintiffs to file a second amended complaint alleging their citizenship by March 4, 2025. He said the case will be dismissed without further notice if they cannot truthfully allege complete diversity, and ordered them to serve the defendant with the order and file proof of service.
The detailed version
- McMahon v. BJW Realty LLC · No. 1:25-cv-01323
- Jesse Furman
- Feb. 25, 2025
Background
Patrick Joseph McMahon and Sandra Gagliardy McMahon filed a complaint invoking the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, the federal diversity-jurisdiction statute. The court previously identified deficiencies and ordered them to file an amended notice or pleading. They filed an amended complaint on February 24, 2025.
Jurisdictional Deficiency
The court concluded that the amended complaint fixed one deficiency but still alleged only the plaintiffs’ residency, not their citizenship. The court explained that residence is insufficient to establish citizenship for diversity-jurisdiction purposes. The order therefore did not decide the underlying dispute between the plaintiffs and BJW Realty LLC.
Order
Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered the plaintiffs to file a second amended complaint alleging their citizenship by March 4, 2025. The court stated that if they could not truthfully allege complete diversity of citizenship by that date, the action would be dismissed without further notice. The plaintiffs were also ordered to serve BJW Realty LLC with the order within two business days and file proof of service on the docket.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.