Roman v. National DCP, LLC

Background

Leslyn Roman brought this action in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Bronx. Anthony B. Lear and National DCP, LLC removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 1, 2022. The removal notice relied on diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, asserting that the parties were citizens of different states and that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000. The opinion also lists Ryder Truck Rental, Inc. as a defendant.

Jurisdictional problem

A federal court has diversity jurisdiction only when there is complete diversity: every defendant must be a citizen of a different state from every plaintiff. For diversity purposes, a limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members. The defendants identified National DCP as a Delaware limited liability company with a primary place of business and center of operations in Georgia, but they did not identify the citizenship of its members. The court therefore could not determine whether complete diversity existed.

Defendants’ response

The court issued an order requiring the defendants to explain why the case should not be remanded. In response, the defendants stated that one member of National DCP would no longer allow the action to be removed to federal court and said they would not oppose remand. The opinion does not address the underlying claims or their merits.

Ruling

Judge Woods concluded that the federal court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), a removed case must be remanded if the district court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction before final judgment. The court remanded the matter to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Bronx, directed the clerk to do so without delay, and ordered the federal case closed.