Li v. Regency Health Care, Inc.
- Analisa Torres
- 1:22-cv-02850
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Li v. Regency Health Care, Judge Torres remanded the case because the amended complaint no longer provided federal subject-matter jurisdiction.
Yaoxiao Li, the employees she sought to represent, and the defendants were affected because the federal court remanded the matter to Supreme Court, New York County, and closed the federal case.
What happened
Li v. Regency Health Care, Inc. began as a lawsuit by Yaoxiao Li for herself and similarly situated employees, alleging violations of federal wage law and New York wage law. The defendants removed the case from New York state court to federal court.
Li later filed an amended complaint that withdrew all federal wage-law claims. The amended complaint did not identify another basis for federal jurisdiction.
Judge Analisa Torres concluded that the federal court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. She remanded the matter to New York Supreme Court, New York County, and directed the Clerk to close the case.
The detailed version
- Li v. Regency Health Care, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-02850
- Analisa Torres
- Sept. 13, 2022
Background
Yaoxiao Li brought the action for herself and other similarly situated employees against Regency Health Care, Inc., doing business under the names listed in the caption, and Mark Moskowitz, Ethan Moskowitz, and Erika Toledo. The complaint alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage law, and the New York Labor Law.
Li originally filed the action in New York Supreme Court, New York County, on December 30, 2021. The defendants removed it to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 6, 2022. After the defendants filed an answer, they informed the court that Li sought permission to file an amended complaint. The proposed amendment would withdraw all Fair Labor Standards Act claims. The defendants stated that, if the court allowed the amendment, the matter should be sent back to state court.
The court permitted Li to file the amended complaint, and she did so on September 2, 2022.
Court’s Analysis
The amended complaint contained no Fair Labor Standards Act claims and identified no other basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction. Subject-matter jurisdiction is the court’s legal authority to hear a case. The court concluded that it lacked that authority.
Disposition
The court remanded the matter to Supreme Court, New York County, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case. The opinion did not decide the merits of Li’s wage-law claims.
Effect
The federal case was returned to the state court identified in the order. The opinion does not state what further proceedings occurred or would occur in state court.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.