Bodhi Building v. Elmsford Chicken, LLC
- Vyskocil
- 1:21-cv-00919
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Bodhi Building v. Elmsford Chicken, Judge Vyskocil dismissed the complaint without prejudice and allowed amendment to establish federal jurisdiction.
Bodhi Building’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice, but Bodhi Building may file an amended complaint addressing the jurisdictional defects by March 11, 2021. If it does not, the court stated that all claims will be dismissed without prejudice and without leave to amend. The defendants remain named in the action, but the opinion does not decide the merits of the claims.
What happened
Bodhi Building sued Elmsford Chicken, Elmsford Property, and Urstadt Biddle Properties, asserting state-law claims and relying on the parties’ alleged citizenship and the amount in dispute to invoke federal court jurisdiction.
The court found that Bodhi Building had not shown complete diversity because it did not identify the citizenship of every member of the two limited liability company defendants. It therefore concluded that the complaint did not adequately establish the court’s authority to hear the case.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil dismissed the complaint without prejudice and granted leave to amend. Bodhi Building was ordered to file an amended complaint by March 11, 2021; otherwise, all claims would be dismissed without prejudice and without leave to amend.
The detailed version
- Bodhi Building v. Elmsford Chicken, LLC · No. 1:21-cv-00919
- Vyskocil
- Feb. 9, 2021
Background
Bodhi Building filed a complaint against Elmsford Chicken, LLC; Elmsford Property, LLC; and Urstadt Biddle Properties, Inc. The complaint asserted twelve causes of action: trespass, negligence, intentional tortious damage, private nuisance, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting trespass, aiding and abetting intentional tortious damages, aiding and abetting private nuisance, constructive eviction, and breach of contract.
The complaint relied on diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Bodhi Building alleged that it was a New York corporation with its principal place of business in New York. It alleged that Elmsford Chicken and Elmsford Property were New York limited liability companies, and that Urstadt Biddle Properties was a Maryland corporation with its principal office in Connecticut. Bodhi Building also alleged that at least one defendant was headquartered in a different state and that the amount in dispute exceeded $75,000.
Jurisdictional Defects
The court explained that diversity jurisdiction requires complete diversity: every plaintiff must be a citizen of a different state from every defendant. Alleging that only one defendant is headquartered in another state was not enough.
The court also explained that a limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members. Because Bodhi Building did not allege the citizenship of the members of Elmsford Chicken or Elmsford Property, it did not adequately plead diversity jurisdiction. The court also noted that the twelve asserted causes of action did not create federal-question jurisdiction because they were state-law claims.
Ruling
Because the court determined that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction—the legal authority to hear the case—it dismissed the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(h)(3). Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil dismissed the complaint without prejudice and granted Bodhi Building leave to amend the jurisdictional allegations. The court ordered an amended complaint by March 11, 2021. It stated that failure to meet that deadline would result in dismissal of all claims without prejudice and without leave to amend.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.