Jun v. Cab East, LLC

Background

This motor-vehicle accident case was purportedly removed from state court based on diversity of citizenship. Diversity jurisdiction is a form of federal jurisdiction that generally requires the parties to be citizens of different states and requires the amount-in-controversy rules to be satisfied. The court’s prior order found that the complaint and notice of removal did not adequately allege the citizenship, as opposed to residence, of Linda Jun, the individual defendant, or the defendant limited liability company.

That prior order gave the defendants until July 21, 2025, to file an amended notice of removal adequately alleging federal subject-matter jurisdiction. Defendant Agathis filed a purported amended notice. It asserted that the limited liability company had been dismissed from the action and that complete diversity existed at that point. The court noted, however, that the docket did not show that the company had been dismissed.

Court’s Analysis

The court held that the amended notice still failed to adequately allege Jun’s citizenship. The court stated that this failure alone was fatal to diversity jurisdiction. It also explained that when removal is based on diversity, diversity must exist both when the plaintiff filed the action in state court and when the case was removed. Therefore, a post-filing change in citizenship could not cure a defect in diversity, and any post-removal dismissal of the limited liability company would be immaterial.

Disposition

The action was remanded to the court from which it had been removed for want of subject-matter jurisdiction. The opinion does not identify that state court by name.