Long v. Lush Cosmetics, LLC
- Jacquelyn Corley
- 3:23-cv-04268
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Long v. Lush Cosmetics, LLC, Judge Corley ordered Lush to clarify its members’ citizenship because diversity jurisdiction was not properly alleged.
Lush Cosmetics, LLC, which was ordered to provide the citizenship of each of its members; the court’s jurisdiction over the case remained unresolved.
What happened
Long v. Lush Cosmetics, LLC concerns whether the federal court has diversity jurisdiction over Victoria Long’s claims against Lush Cosmetics, LLC. The complaint says Long is domiciled in California and describes Lush as a Delaware limited liability company that does not have its main business location in California.
The court explained that an LLC’s citizenship depends on the citizenship of each of its members, not simply its state of formation or main business location. The filing did not identify the citizenship of Lush’s members, and no other basis for federal jurisdiction was clear from the complaint.
The court ordered Lush to file that information by September 19, 2023, but did not decide the underlying claims. Judge Jacquelyn Corley signed the order.
The detailed version
- Long v. Lush Cosmetics, LLC · No. 3:23-cv-04268
- Jacquelyn Corley
- Sept. 5, 2023
Background
Victoria Long brought claims against Lush Cosmetics, LLC. Lush asserted that the federal court had diversity jurisdiction, which generally requires the parties to be citizens of different states and involves an amount in controversy meeting the statutory requirement. The complaint states that Long is domiciled in California. It describes Lush as a limited liability company incorporated and existing under Delaware law and alleges that Lush does not maintain its principal place of business in California.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that a limited liability company is a citizen of every state in which its owners or members are citizens. Therefore, Lush’s state of formation and principal place of business did not establish diversity jurisdiction. The notice of removal did not properly allege the citizenship of Lush’s members. The court also stated that no other basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction was clear from the complaint.
Order
The court ordered Lush to make a supplemental filing by September 19, 2023, setting out the citizenship of each of its members. The opinion did not decide whether jurisdiction ultimately exists or resolve Long’s underlying claims. The order was signed by Judge Jacquelyn Corley.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.