Ryan v. Catsimatidis

Background

Maria Ryan filed this action in New York Supreme Court, New York County, on December 7, 2024. Chad Lopez, John Catsimatidis, WABC Radio Foundation Inc., Red Apple Media Inc., and WABC Radio, LLC removed the case to federal court on December 10, 2024. They asserted that the federal court had diversity jurisdiction, meaning jurisdiction over a case involving citizens of different states when the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.

The defendants alleged that Ryan was a citizen of New Hampshire; that Red Apple Media, Inc., WABC Radio Foundation Inc., and WABC Radio, LLC were New York corporations or entities with principal places of business in New York; and that Catsimatidis and Lopez were New York citizens. The notice of removal did not allege the citizenship of each member of WABC Radio, LLC.

The defendants also filed a motion to dismiss. After Ryan did not initially respond, the court ordered the defendants to serve her with the motion papers and set a deadline for her opposition. More than nine months after that deadline, Ryan’s counsel said that the opposition had been inadvertently omitted, and Ryan filed a request for more time. The defendants opposed that request and argued that their motion should remain unopposed.

Jurisdictional Defect

The court explained that the party removing a case bears the burden of establishing federal subject-matter jurisdiction. For a limited liability company, citizenship is determined by the citizenship of every member, not by the company’s place of incorporation or principal place of business. Because the defendants did not allege the citizenship of WABC Radio, LLC’s members, their stated basis for diversity jurisdiction was legally insufficient.

The court treated the defect as an incomplete statement of citizenship rather than a fundamental absence of diversity. It therefore allowed the defendants an opportunity to correct the removal notice instead of immediately remanding the case.

Order

Judge Vernon S. Broderick ordered the defendants to file an amended Notice of Removal within 14 days after the order was filed, curing the citizenship allegations concerning WABC Radio, LLC. The court stated that if the defendants did not meet that deadline, it would remand the case to the New York Supreme Court without further order. The order did not decide Ryan’s request for additional time or the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

Classification Basis

This is a procedural order because it addresses whether the federal court’s subject-matter jurisdiction was adequately established and does not decide the underlying claims or the pending motion to dismiss.