Tyndall v. Warwick Valley Pilots Associates, Inc.
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:20-cv-09751
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Tyndall v. Warwick Valley Pilots Associates, Judge Briccetti required clarification of domicile before deciding diversity jurisdiction.
Warwick Valley Pilots Associates, Inc. was required to clarify William A. Tyndall’s domicile so the court could determine whether diversity jurisdiction existed.
What happened
In Tyndall v. Warwick Valley Pilots Associates, Inc., the company removed William A. Tyndall’s case from New York state court to federal court. It claimed the parties were citizens of different states and that more than $75,000 was at stake.
The court explained that diversity jurisdiction depends on each party’s citizenship, which for an individual means domicile—the person’s true permanent home—not residence. The filings gave conflicting information about where Tyndall lived and did not clearly establish his domicile when the case began.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti ordered Warwick Valley Pilots Associates, Inc. to submit a letter by November 30, 2020, clarifying Tyndall’s domicile. The court did not yet decide whether it had diversity jurisdiction or address the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Tyndall v. Warwick Valley Pilots Associates, Inc. · No. 7:20-cv-09751
- Vincent Briccetti
- Nov. 20, 2020
Background
Warwick Valley Pilots Associates, Inc. removed the action from Supreme Court, Orange County. The defendant asserted that the federal court had original jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1), which provides for diversity jurisdiction when the parties are completely diverse and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
Jurisdictional issue
The court explained that complete diversity requires every plaintiff to be a citizen of a different state from every defendant. For an individual, citizenship is determined by domicile: the person’s true fixed home and principal establishment, to which the person intends to return. The relevant domicile is the one existing when the complaint was filed.
The notice of removal described the defendant as a citizen of New York and described William A. Tyndall as a resident of Marion, North Carolina. But the complaint said Tyndall was a resident of Orange County, the Town of Warwick, and New York, while the summons said he resided in Marion, North Carolina. The court noted that residence does not establish citizenship for diversity purposes; domicile does.
Order
The court ordered Warwick Valley Pilots Associates, Inc. to submit a letter by November 30, 2020, clarifying Tyndall’s citizenship, meaning his domicile, so the court could determine whether complete diversity existed. Judge Vincent L. Briccetti did not decide the jurisdictional question or the merits of the case in this order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.