Hyundai of White Plains, LLC v. Hyundai Motor America Corporation
- Philip Halpern
- 7:22-cv-05529
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Hyundai of White Plains v. Hyundai Motor America, Judge Halpern required more proof of diversity jurisdiction.
Hyundai Motor America Corporation was required to provide additional support for federal diversity jurisdiction, and Hyundai of White Plains, LLC was affected because the court had not yet determined whether the case could remain in federal court.
What happened
Hyundai Motor America removed Hyundai of White Plains, LLC’s lawsuit from New York state court to federal court, claiming the parties were citizens of different states. The defendant said the plaintiff was a New York citizen and the defendant was a California citizen.
The court explained that a limited liability company’s citizenship depends on the citizenship of all its members. The defendant identified two members of Hyundai of White Plains, LLC and said both were New York citizens, but the court found that this statement did not adequately establish the citizenship of every member when the case was removed.
In an order dated July 5, 2022, Judge Philip M. Halpern said the court could not yet determine whether diversity jurisdiction existed. He ordered Hyundai Motor America to file a letter by 5:00 p.m. on July 8, 2022, explaining the basis for its jurisdictional claim and supporting factual statements about the plaintiff’s membership with an affidavit from someone with personal knowledge.
The detailed version
- Hyundai of White Plains, LLC v. Hyundai Motor America Corporation · No. 7:22-cv-05529
- Philip Halpern
- July 5, 2022
Background
Hyundai of White Plains, LLC filed an action against Hyundai Motor America Corporation in New York Supreme Court in Westchester County. Hyundai Motor America removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under federal removal and diversity-jurisdiction statutes. It asserted that complete diversity existed because the plaintiff was a New York citizen and the defendant was a California citizen.
Jurisdictional issue
For diversity jurisdiction, the citizenship of a limited liability company is based on the citizenship of all of its members. Hyundai Motor America stated that the plaintiff’s members identified as of May 6, 2021, were Jonathan Grant and Patrick Monninger, and that both were citizens of New York. It also stated that any ownership change required Hyundai Motor America’s prior written consent and that the plaintiff had not reported a change since May 2021.
The court found that these statements did not adequately establish the citizenship of all the plaintiff’s members as of the removal date. As a result, the court said it was unable to conclude that diversity jurisdiction existed under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).
Order
The court ordered Hyundai Motor America to file a letter through the court’s electronic filing system by 5:00 p.m. on July 8, 2022. The letter had to explain the basis for asserting diversity of citizenship and support any factual statements about the plaintiff’s membership with an affidavit from a person with personal knowledge. The court also directed Hyundai Motor America to serve the order on the plaintiff by email through its counsel. The order did not state a final disposition of the action or definitively determine whether federal jurisdiction existed.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.