Ramos v. Eddy

Background

Defendants Kyle Wayne Eddy and VR Kendall Trucking LLC removed the action from the Supreme Court of New York, Bronx County. They asserted that the federal court had diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 because the notice identified Ramos as a New York citizen and both defendants as Pennsylvania citizens.

Jurisdictional problem

For diversity jurisdiction, an LLC is treated as a citizen of every state where its members are citizens. A limited partnership is treated as a citizen of every state where its general and limited partners are citizens. The court therefore required the removal notice to identify the citizenship of each person or entity comprising VR Kendall. For any corporate member or partner, the notice also had to state the entity’s state of incorporation and principal place of business.

The complaint described VR Kendall as a limited liability partnership, while the answer denied that allegation. The court stated that VR Kendall appeared from its name to be an LLC, but explained that the same need to identify constituent citizenship applied if it were a limited partnership. The notice of removal did not supply the required information.

Order

The court ordered defendants to amend their notice of removal by March 12, 2021, to allege the citizenship of each constituent person or entity comprising VR Kendall as an LLC or limited partnership. If defendants could not truthfully allege complete diversity by that date, the court ordered that the action would be remanded to the Supreme Court of New York, Bronx County, without further notice.

The court also directed defendants to serve Ramos with the order within two business days and file proof of service. Ramos’s counsel was directed to file a notice of appearance within two business days after service. The order did not itself state that the case was remanded.