Town of Cornwall v. Special Camp Yedidim, LLC
- Philip Halpern
- 7:20-cv-02390
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Town of Cornwall v. Special Camp Yedidim, Judge Halpern remanded the action because a state-court plaintiff cannot remove its own case to federal court.
Town of Cornwall’s removed federal action was returned to the New York Supreme Court, Orange County; the order also closed the federal case and terminated all pending matters.
What happened
Town of Cornwall removed this action from New York state court to federal court, arguing that the defendants’ answer and counterclaim raised a federal question. The court considered whether the Town, which started the state-court case, could remove it.
The court held that federal removal law permits only a defendant to remove a state-court action. The fact that the defendants had filed a counterclaim did not give the Town the right to remove.
Judge Philip M. Halpern remanded the action to the New York Supreme Court in Orange County, directed the Clerk to close the federal case, and terminated all pending matters.
The detailed version
- Town of Cornwall v. Special Camp Yedidim, LLC · No. 7:20-cv-02390
- Philip Halpern
- Apr. 10, 2020
Background
Town of Cornwall removed the action from state court on March 18, 2020, under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(c). The Town argued that the defendants’ answer and counterclaim asserted a federal question.
Analysis
The court explained that 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a) allows a defendant to remove a state-court civil action when the federal district court has original jurisdiction. The statute does not allow the plaintiff to remove its own case. The court relied on decisions holding that a party in the position of a plaintiff cannot remove, even when that party is responding to a counterclaim.
The court characterized the Town’s improper removal as a procedural defect. Because the notice of removal was filed on March 18, 2020, the court stated that its remand order was within the 30-day period for addressing that defect under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).
Disposition
The court remanded the action under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) to the New York Supreme Court, Orange County. It directed the Clerk to send that court a copy of the order and close the federal action. The court also terminated all pending matters.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.