Melo-Cordero v. Shaddai Transport LLC
- Lewis Kaplan
- 1:21-cv-04837
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Melo-Cordero v. Shaddai Transport LLC, Judge Aaron ordered plaintiff to clarify the defendants’ citizenships to establish federal jurisdiction.
Francisco Melo-Cordero and the defendants, including Shaddai Transport LLC and FTVY Logistics, LLC, because the plaintiff must provide additional information establishing federal subject-matter jurisdiction.
What happened
In Melo-Cordero v. Shaddai Transport LLC, the court reviewed Francisco Melo-Cordero’s complaint and found that it did not adequately show that the federal court had authority to hear the case based on the parties’ citizenships.
Federal diversity jurisdiction generally requires more than $75,000 in dispute and complete citizenship differences between all plaintiffs and defendants. For limited liability companies, citizenship depends on the citizenship of their members. The complaint did not identify the members’ citizenships for Shaddai Transport LLC or FTVY Logistics, LLC.
The court ordered Francisco Melo-Cordero to file an affidavit or amended complaint establishing subject-matter jurisdiction by July 21, 2021. Stewart D. Aaron, the United States magistrate judge who signed the order, did not dismiss the case in this order.
The detailed version
- Melo-Cordero v. Shaddai Transport LLC · No. 1:21-cv-04837
- Lewis Kaplan
- July 7, 2021
Background
The court reviewed the complaint filed by Francisco Melo-Cordero against Shaddai Transport LLC and other defendants, including FTVY Logistics, LLC. The complaint invoked diversity jurisdiction, which is a federal court’s authority to hear certain disputes involving citizens of different states.
Jurisdictional problem
The party seeking to use federal jurisdiction has the burden of showing that jurisdiction exists. Under the diversity-jurisdiction statute, the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000, excluding interest and costs, and the parties must have complete diversity of citizenship. Complete diversity means that no plaintiff shares a state citizenship with any defendant.
A limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members. The court found that the complaint did not allege the citizenships of the members of Shaddai Transport LLC or FTVY Logistics, LLC. As a result, the complaint did not adequately establish subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning the court’s legal authority to hear the dispute.
Order
The court ordered that, no later than July 21, 2021, Melo-Cordero must file either an affidavit or an amended complaint adequately establishing subject-matter jurisdiction. The order did not dismiss the case. The order was signed by Stewart D. Aaron, United States Magistrate Judge.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.