Moshik Nadav Typography LLC v. Banana Republic, LLC
- Jesse Furman
- 1:20-cv-08325
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Moshik Nadav Typography v. Banana Republic, Judge Furman ordered the complaint amended to properly allege citizenship for diversity jurisdiction.
Moshik Nadav Typography LLC was required to amend its complaint to provide the missing citizenship allegations; Banana Republic, LLC was the affected defendant. The order warned that the complaint would be dismissed if complete diversity could not be truthfully alleged.
What happened
Moshik Nadav Typography LLC sued Banana Republic, LLC, claiming federal court jurisdiction based on the parties’ citizenship.
The court explained that an LLC has the citizenship of every member. The complaint alleged citizenship for the parties but did not identify the citizenship of each person or entity making up Banana Republic, LLC.
Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered the plaintiff to amend its complaint by October 21, 2020. The order states that if the plaintiff could not truthfully allege complete diversity, the complaint would be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without further notice.
The detailed version
- Moshik Nadav Typography LLC v. Banana Republic, LLC · No. 1:20-cv-08325
- Jesse Furman
- Oct. 8, 2020
Background
Moshik Nadav Typography LLC brought the action against Banana Republic, LLC. The complaint invoked diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 and alleged that the plaintiff was a citizen of New York and that the defendant was a citizen of Delaware.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that a limited liability company is considered a citizen of every state of which its members are citizens. Therefore, a complaint relying on diversity jurisdiction must identify the citizenship of each person or entity that makes up an LLC. For corporate members, the complaint must allege the place of incorporation and principal place of business; for LLC members, it must also identify the citizenship of their members.
The court found that the complaint did not provide this information for the entities and persons comprising Banana Republic, LLC. As a result, the complaint did not properly allege diversity jurisdiction.
Order
The court ordered Moshik Nadav Typography LLC to amend its complaint by October 21, 2020, to allege the citizenship of each constituent person or entity comprising Banana Republic, LLC. Judge Jesse M. Furman further ordered that, if the plaintiff could not truthfully allege complete diversity of citizenship by that date, the complaint would be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without further notice. The opinion does not state that the complaint was dismissed at that time.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.