Doe v. Cal Tan, L.L.C.
- Laura Swain
- 1:19-cv-11587
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Doe v. Cal Tan, Judge Swain ordered Cal Tech and New Sunshine to explain federal jurisdiction or face possible dismissal.
The order directly affects Cal Tech, LLC, and New Sunshine, LLC, which were ordered to provide additional jurisdictional information or explain why the case should not be dismissed. The order also concerns the federal court’s authority to hear the action involving Jane Doe, Wilhelmina Models, Inc., and Cal Tan, LLC.
What happened
In Doe v. Cal Tan, the defendants removed the case to federal court claiming that the parties were citizens of different states. The notice said only that Jane Doe lived outside New York and did not provide the required citizenship information for the defendants.
The court explained that a person’s residence does not establish citizenship for this purpose. It also said that the notice did not identify the citizenship of the members of Cal Tan, LLC and New Sunshine, LLC, or the state of incorporation and main business location of Wilhelmina Models, Inc.
Judge Laura Swain ordered Cal Tech, LLC, and New Sunshine, LLC, to file additional information by January 8, 2020, or explain in writing why the case should not be dismissed for lack of federal jurisdiction. The order did not dismiss the case at that time.
The detailed version
- Doe v. Cal Tan, L.L.C. · No. 1:19-cv-11587
- Laura Swain
- Dec. 20, 2019
Background
The defendants removed this action to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by filing a notice of removal on December 18, 2019. The notice asserted diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, which generally requires the action to be between citizens of different states.
Jurisdictional deficiencies
The court found that the notice did not adequately allege the parties’ citizenship. For Jane Doe, it alleged only that she “resides in a State other than New York.” The court explained that residence is not enough to establish citizenship for diversity jurisdiction.
The notice also did not allege the citizenship of the members of Cal Tan, LLC, or New Sunshine, LLC. An LLC has the citizenship of each of its members. In addition, the notice did not allege the citizenship of Wilhelmina Models, Inc. A corporation is a citizen of its state of incorporation and the state where it has its principal place of business.
Order
The court stated that subject-matter jurisdiction—the court’s legal authority to hear the case—cannot be waived. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(h)(3) requires dismissal if the court determines that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction.
The court ordered defendants Cal Tech, LLC, and New Sunshine, LLC, to file and serve by January 8, 2020, a supplement to the notice of removal containing allegations sufficient to establish subject-matter jurisdiction, or otherwise show cause in writing why the case should not be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The order did not dismiss the action at that time.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.