Hobbs v. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc.
- Analisa Torres
- 1:21-cv-01421
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Hobbs v. Knight-Swift, Judge Torres ordered plaintiffs to correct citizenship allegations by March 5 or face dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs must amend their complaint to provide the required citizenship allegations by March 5, 2021. If they fail to do so, the complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
What happened
In Hobbs v. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc., Tavares Hobbs, Ricardo Bell, and Robert Shaw sued Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc., and Swift Transportation Co. of Arizona, LLC, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated. They relied on diversity jurisdiction, which allows a federal court to hear certain cases involving parties with different citizenships.
Judge Torres said that, if Swift Transportation Co. of Arizona is a limited liability company, the complaint must identify the citizenship of each member and any corporate entities that are members. The plaintiffs were ordered to amend the complaint by March 5, 2021, to provide that information and truthfully allege complete diversity.
The court warned that failure to amend by the deadline would lead to dismissal of the complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The order was issued by District Judge Analisa Torres, and it did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Hobbs v. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc. · No. 1:21-cv-01421
- Analisa Torres
- Feb. 19, 2021
Background
Tavares Hobbs, Ricardo Bell, and Robert Shaw brought this action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated against Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc., and Swift Transportation Co. of Arizona, LLC. The complaint invoked diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
Citizenship Allegations
The court explained that, if Swift Transportation Co. of Arizona, LLC is a limited liability company, the complaint must allege the citizenship of each natural person who is a member. It must also allege the place of incorporation and principal place of business of any corporate entity that is a member. For diversity jurisdiction, the pleading must truthfully establish complete diversity based on the citizenship of those constituent persons and entities.
Order and Effect
The court ordered the plaintiffs to amend their pleading by March 5, 2021, to allege the citizenship of each constituent person or entity. The court stated that if the plaintiffs failed to amend by that date to truthfully allege complete diversity, the complaint would be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Judge Analisa Torres did not rule on the merits of the plaintiffs' underlying claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.