Anderson v. Allison Worldwide, LLC
- Garnett
- 1:25-cv-05061
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Anderson v. Allison, Judge Garnett gave Anderson 45 days to amend citizenship allegations or voluntarily dismiss Allison, warning of dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.
Demar Anderson must either provide the required citizenship allegations in an amended complaint or voluntarily dismiss Allison Worldwide, LLC. Allison Worldwide’s continued presence in the action depends on that choice.
What happened
In Anderson v. Allison Worldwide, LLC, Demar Anderson’s complaint described Allison Worldwide as a limited liability company but did not identify the citizenship of its members. The complaint alleged that Allison was headquartered in California and had its primary place of business in New York.
The court explained that diversity jurisdiction requires specific citizenship allegations. For a limited liability company, that requires identifying the citizenship of each member and, for any corporate member, its state of incorporation and principal place of business. A party’s residence is not enough.
Judge Margaret M. Garnett ordered that Anderson may file an amended complaint within 45 days that truthfully alleges the required information, or may voluntarily dismiss Allison within that period. If Anderson does neither, the action will be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction without further notice.
The detailed version
- Anderson v. Allison Worldwide, LLC · No. 1:25-cv-05061
- Garnett
- June 18, 2025
Background
Demar Anderson sued Allison Worldwide, LLC, and other defendants. The complaint alleged that Allison Worldwide is a limited liability company headquartered in California with its primary place of business in New York. It did not allege the citizenship of any member of Allison Worldwide.
Jurisdictional issue
The court addressed subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning the court’s legal authority to hear the case. It explained that diversity jurisdiction must be specifically alleged. When a limited liability company is a party, the pleading must identify the citizenship of every member. If a member is a corporation, the pleading must also identify the corporation’s state of incorporation and principal place of business. Alleging where a party resides is not enough to establish citizenship.
Order
Within 45 days of the order, Anderson may file an amended complaint that truthfully alleges the citizenship of all natural-person members of Allison Worldwide and the required information for any corporate members. Alternatively, Anderson may voluntarily dismiss Allison Worldwide within 45 days. If Anderson does not amend the complaint to allege complete diversity or voluntarily dismiss Allison Worldwide, the action will be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction without further notice. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.