Arizona Hudson Valley LLC v. Pietrzykowski

Background

Arizona Hudson Valley LLC sued Fabian Pietrzykowski and Fabian Construction LLC over an agreement to perform construction work at the plaintiff’s property in Hurley, New York. The claims were for breach of contract and fraud. The defendants moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), which permits dismissal when the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction.

The plaintiff relied on diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The amended complaint alleged that Arizona Hudson Valley LLC was organized under Delaware law and had its principal place of business in New York. It also alleged that its sole member was another Delaware LLC with its principal place of business in New York, whose sole member was Jordan Bem, a dual national of France and the United States residing in New York. The complaint alleged that Pietrzykowski had a New Jersey address and that Fabian Construction LLC was registered in New Jersey.

Jurisdictional Evidence

For diversity purposes, an individual’s citizenship depends on domicile, which generally requires both physical presence in a state and an intent to make that state a home. The plaintiff submitted documents connecting Pietrzykowski and Fabian Construction LLC to New Jersey, including a New Jersey driver’s license, company formation and reinstatement documents, and New Jersey addresses used for company records.

Pietrzykowski submitted a declaration stating that he had lived in a Bronx, New York apartment with his wife and two children for a decade and intended to remain there. Supporting documents included a lease renewal, utility and bank records, insurance records, children’s birth certificates, his wife’s learner’s permit, company records, proof of personal service at the Bronx address, and correspondence from New Jersey concerning child-support payments.

Court’s Analysis

The court stated that the parties agreed that Arizona Hudson Valley LLC was a New York citizen, that Fabian Construction LLC was a New Jersey-registered LLC, and that Pietrzykowski was the LLC’s only member. The court identified Pietrzykowski’s domicile as the only disputed issue.

The court determined that Pietrzykowski was a New York citizen. It relied on his statement that he had lived at the Bronx address for a decade and intended to stay there, along with records showing his bank accounts, workers’ and health-insurance registrations, and family connections at that address. The court gave considerable weight to the residence of his wife and children.

The court concluded that most of the plaintiff’s New Jersey documents concerned the operation of Fabian Construction LLC rather than Pietrzykowski’s personal domicile. It found that his use of New Jersey addresses when registering the company or answering the complaint on the company’s behalf said little about his personal citizenship.

The court also denied the plaintiff’s request for jurisdictional discovery. It found that the existing submissions provided substantial evidence of Pietrzykowski’s connections to New York and that additional discovery would not enable the plaintiff to satisfy its burden of establishing federal jurisdiction.

Disposition

The court held that diversity was lacking and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The Clerk was directed to terminate the pending motion and close the case. The dismissal was without prejudice to the plaintiff refiling its complaint in a state court of competent jurisdiction.