Danusiar v. Auditchain USA, Inc.
- Kevin Fox
- 1:20-cv-01477
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Danusiar v. Auditchain USA, Inc., Judge Castel ordered citizenship details to address diversity jurisdiction before the case could proceed.
Christopher Danusiar and Matreya.io, LLC are directly affected by the information-gathering and amendment deadlines. The action also names Auditchain USA, Inc. and Jason M. Meyers as defendants.
What happened
In Danusiar v. Auditchain USA, Inc., Christopher Danusiar brought the case based on diversity jurisdiction, which allows certain disputes involving citizens of different states or countries to be heard in federal court. The complaint named Matreya.io, LLC, but did not identify the citizenship of the LLC’s members, and it did not clearly state Danusiar’s own citizenship.
The court gave Danusiar seven days to send Matreya.io, LLC, a limited question seeking citizenship information about its members. The LLC must respond within seven days. Danusiar then has 30 days to amend the complaint to provide the required citizenship information. The court warned that the action will be dismissed for lack of authority to hear the case if he does not do so.
Judge P. Kevin Castel issued the order on February 21, 2020. The court did not dismiss the action at that time; it required additional jurisdictional information and an amended complaint.
The detailed version
- Danusiar v. Auditchain USA, Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-01477
- Kevin Fox
- Feb. 21, 2020
Background
Christopher Danusiar filed the action against Auditchain USA, Inc., Matreya.io, LLC, and Jason M. Meyers. The complaint invoked diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Diversity jurisdiction is federal authority to hear certain cases involving citizens of different states or countries.
Jurisdictional problem
The court explained that an action based on diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of the parties. For a limited liability company, citizenship is determined by the citizenship of each member. If an LLC member is a natural person, the complaint must identify that person’s state or country of citizenship. If a corporation is a member, the complaint must identify its state of incorporation and principal place of business.
The court found that Danusiar had not alleged the citizenship of the persons and entities that were members of Matreya.io, LLC. The court also found that Danusiar had implied, but had not specifically pleaded, his own citizenship.
Order
Within seven days, Danusiar may serve Matreya.io, LLC, with an interrogatory—a written question used to obtain information—limited to the citizenship information for the LLC’s members. The LLC must respond within seven days of receiving the interrogatory.
Within 30 days of the order, Danusiar must amend his complaint to allege the citizenship of each member of Matreya.io, LLC and to specifically plead his own citizenship. The court stated that the action will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction if he does not do so. The order itself did not dismiss the action.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.