Howell v. Garden of Eden

Background

Natalia Howell filed a negligence action against her former employer, Garden of Eden, in the Alameda Superior Court in December 2019. Garden of Eden removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in July 2020. Its notice of removal relied on supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367, asserting that Howell’s state-law claims were part of the same case or controversy as a related federal case.

Howell had also filed a separate state-court action against Andrew Do, her former supervisor at Garden of Eden, which was removed to federal court. Both removed actions were related to Howell’s employment-discrimination action, which had been filed directly in federal court.

Jurisdictional issue

Federal courts may hear a case removed from state court only if they have original jurisdiction. The court explained that federal-question jurisdiction generally requires a federal claim to appear on the face of the plaintiff’s properly pleaded complaint, and that supplemental jurisdiction applies only to claims within a civil action over which the court already has original jurisdiction. Section 1367 does not allow removal based solely on a claim’s relationship to a separate action.

The court found no federal-law issue on the face of Howell’s complaint. It therefore concluded that the relationship between this negligence action and the separate federal action could not establish supplemental jurisdiction for removal. Garden of Eden conceded that the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction, and Howell did not oppose remand.

Ruling

Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley REMANDED the action to the Alameda Superior Court for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). The order disposed of docket entries 14 and 15, and the clerk was directed to close the case after remand.