Venezia v. Muir Wood, LLC
- Phyllis Hamilton
- 4:19-cv-06760
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 5
In Venezia v. Muir Wood, Judge Hamilton granted remand to state court because defendants improperly removed the case.
Jennifer Venezia and the defendants—Muir Wood, LLC, Muir Wood Adolescent & Family Services, LLC, Scott Sowle, and Bryan Bowen—were affected. The case was returned to Marin County Superior Court, and the defendants’ motions to dismiss were terminated without decision.
What happened
In Venezia v. Muir Wood, LLC, Jennifer Venezia sued Muir Wood, LLC, related Muir Wood entities, Scott Sowle, and Bryan Bowen in Marin County Superior Court over tort and employment-related claims. The defendants moved the case to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction.
The court ruled that removal was improper because the defendants were California citizens, and federal law generally bars removal based only on diversity when a served defendant is a citizen of the state where the case was filed. The court also rejected the defendants’ argument that Venezia had given up her right to challenge removal through her actions in federal court.
Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton granted Venezia’s motion to remand and sent the case back to Marin County Superior Court. The court terminated the defendants’ motions to dismiss without deciding them.
The detailed version
- Venezia v. Muir Wood, LLC · No. 4:19-cv-06760
- Phyllis Hamilton
- Dec. 23, 2019
Background
Jennifer Venezia filed the action in Marin County Superior Court on September 10, 2019. She alleged tort and employment-related claims arising from the defendants’ alleged inducement of her to leave Illinois for employment in Marin County and events that followed. The defendants later removed the case to federal court under the federal diversity-jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1332. After removal, the defendants filed four motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Venezia then moved to return the case to state court.
Removal issue
Federal courts generally may hear a civil case involving citizens of different states when the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. But the federal removal statute contains a forum-defendant rule: a case based only on diversity jurisdiction may not be removed if a properly joined and served defendant is a citizen of the state where the case was filed.
The defendants’ removal notice stated that Muir Wood Adolescent & Family Services, LLC and Muir Wood LLC were California limited liability companies with their principal places of business in Sonoma County. It also stated that Scott Sowle and Bryan Bowen were California citizens. The defendants did not dispute these facts at the hearing and acknowledged that there was no basis for removal. The court therefore found that removal violated the forum-defendant rule and was procedurally improper.
Waiver argument
The defendants argued that Venezia had waived her right to seek remand through her conduct after removal. That conduct included agreeing to continue a hearing, opposing the motions to dismiss, and filing the motion to remand.
The court rejected that argument. It found that Venezia’s conduct did not amount to clear consent to remain in federal court. The court noted that she had to file her oppositions to protect her rights, that those filings came shortly after removal, and that filing a motion seeking remand could not show consent to federal jurisdiction. The agreed hearing continuance also did not establish waiver.
Disposition
The court GRANTED Venezia’s motion to remand and REMANDED the action to Marin County Superior Court. It further TERMINATED without decision the defendants’ motions to dismiss. The court did not decide those motions’ merits.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.