McAuley v. The Honey Pot Company, LLC
- Analisa Torres
- 1:23-cv-01986
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In McAuley v. The Honey Pot Company, LLC, Judge Torres ordered plaintiff to clarify the company’s ownership citizenship for diversity jurisdiction.
Nicole McAuley and The Honey Pot Company, LLC; the order requires McAuley to amend the complaint’s allegations concerning the LLC’s members and citizenship.
What happened
In McAuley v. The Honey Pot Company, LLC, Nicole McAuley sued The Honey Pot Company, LLC, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated. She relied on diversity of citizenship for federal jurisdiction.
The court explained that a limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members. The complaint therefore needed to identify the citizenship of every individual or entity that was a member of The Honey Pot Company, LLC.
Judge Torres ordered McAuley to amend the complaint by March 14, 2023, to provide that information truthfully. The court said the complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction if she does not adequately allege complete diversity.
The detailed version
- McAuley v. The Honey Pot Company, LLC · No. 1:23-cv-01986
- Analisa Torres
- Mar. 9, 2023
Background
Nicole McAuley brought the action against The Honey Pot Company, LLC, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated. The opinion states that she invoked federal subject-matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
Jurisdictional issue
The court noted that, if The Honey Pot Company, LLC is a limited liability company, the complaint must allege the citizenship of each of its members. For individual members, the pleading must identify their citizenship. For corporate members, it must identify their place of incorporation and principal place of business. The opinion cites the rule that a limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members.
Order
Judge Torres ordered McAuley to amend her pleading by March 14, 2023, to truthfully allege the citizenship of each constituent person or entity of the LLC. The court stated that, if she fails to amend by that date to allege complete diversity, the complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The order did not itself dismiss the complaint or decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.