Austin v. Kemper Corporation
- Jon Tigar
- 4:25-cv-07194
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Austin v. Kemper Corporation, Judge Tigar closed an improperly removed case and terminated Austin’s consolidation motion as moot.
George Jarvis Austin and Kemper Corporation were affected: Case No. 25-cv-07367 was closed as improperly removed, and Austin’s motion to consolidate in Case No. 25-cv-07194 was terminated as moot.
What happened
In Austin v. Kemper Corporation, the court addressed two related cases involving George Jarvis Austin and Kemper Corporation. In Case No. 25-cv-07367, the court had required Kemper to explain why the case could be removed from state court or state that removal was improper.
Kemper responded that it no longer believed removal was proper. It cited a California appellate decision stating that ending a federal case without sending it back to state court leaves the state court unable to resume the proceedings.
Judge Tigar directed the Clerk to close Case No. 25-cv-07367 as improperly removed. Because that case was closed, the court terminated Austin’s motion to consolidate the cases in Case No. 25-cv-07194 as moot.
The detailed version
- Austin v. Kemper Corporation · No. 4:25-cv-07194
- Jon Tigar
- Sept. 16, 2025
Background
The order concerns two cases brought by George Jarvis Austin against Kemper Corporation. The captions identify the cases as Nos. 25-cv-07194-JST and 25-cv-07367-JST. In the second case, the court had ordered Kemper Insurance Corporation to either provide legal authority supporting the conclusion that the case had been sent back to state court and could therefore be removed, or state that it no longer believed removal was proper.
Kemper’s Response
Kemper responded that it “no longer believes that removal was proper.” It cited Allstate Ins. Co. v. Superior Court, 132 Cal. App. 3d 670 (1982), for the statement that ending a federal action without sending it back to state court ends the action and leaves the state court without jurisdiction to resume the proceedings.
Ruling
The court directed the Clerk to close Case No. 25-cv-07367 because it was improperly removed. In Case No. 25-cv-07194, Austin had filed a motion to consolidate the two cases. Because Case No. 25-cv-07367 was closed, Judge Tigar terminated that motion as moot. The order did not decide the underlying merits of Austin’s claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.