Degnan v. Wheelabrator Westchester L.P.

Background

Helfrich Brothers Works, Inc. removed the action from Supreme Court, Westchester County, on October 12, 2022. Helfrich asserted that federal jurisdiction existed because the parties had diverse citizenship and the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000.

Jurisdictional issue

Federal courts may hear a case under diversity jurisdiction only when every plaintiff is a citizen of a different state from every defendant. The court stated that corporations are citizens of their state of incorporation and the state of their principal place of business. A limited partnership has the citizenship of each of its general and limited partners.

Helfrich’s notice of removal stated that the plaintiffs were citizens of Rhode Island and that Helfrich was incorporated and had its principal place of business in Massachusetts. But the notice did not identify the citizenship of Wheelabrator Westchester L.P. It also did not state whether Wheelabrator had been served in the state case or consented to removal.

The court separately noted that a case otherwise removable based on diversity cannot be removed when a properly joined and served defendant is a citizen of the state where the case was filed. The state-court complaint alleged that Wheelabrator was a domestic corporation organized under New York law and had its principal place of business in New York. But neither the complaint nor the removal notice identified Wheelabrator’s partners or their citizenships. The court therefore could not determine whether Wheelabrator was a New York citizen or whether complete diversity existed.

Order

The court ordered Helfrich to submit a letter by October 21, 2022, clarifying Wheelabrator’s citizenship and whether Wheelabrator consented to removal. The requested information was needed for the court to determine whether complete diversity existed and whether the case had been properly removed. The order did not otherwise rule on the merits of the parties’ claims.