State Farm Fire and Casualty Company v. Team Orion Europe, SA
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:23-cv-02000
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
State Farm v. Team Orion Europe, SA: Judge Karas remanded the case because the plaintiff and a defendant shared Illinois citizenship.
State Farm Fire and Casualty Company and the defendants in the products-liability action, including Team Orion Europe, SA, Neidhart SA, Shenzen Grepow Battery Co., Ltd., and Horizon Hobby, LLC.
What happened
In State Farm Fire and Casualty Company v. Team Orion Europe, SA, State Farm brought a products-liability case against four defendants, and one defendant removed it from New York state court to federal court.
The removing defendant said federal jurisdiction existed because the parties were citizens of different states. But the court noted that both State Farm and that defendant were citizens of Illinois. Federal diversity jurisdiction generally requires every plaintiff to be from a different state than every defendant.
Judge Kenneth M. Karas ruled that complete diversity was missing. He remanded the case to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Orange, directed the Clerk to close the federal case, and terminated a pending letter motion.
The detailed version
- State Farm Fire and Casualty Company v. Team Orion Europe, SA · No. 7:23-cv-02000
- Kenneth Karas
- Apr. 28, 2023
Background
State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, acting as subrogee of Sydlane and Valerie Bhikarry, brought a products-liability action against Team Orion Europe, SA; Neidhart SA; Shenzen Grepow Battery Co., Ltd.; and Horizon Hobby, LLC. The action began in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Orange.
Horizon removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, citing diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). In response to the court's order to show cause, Horizon argued that diversity jurisdiction existed because the citizenship of at least one plaintiff differed from that of all defendants and the amount in controversy exceeded the statutory threshold.
Jurisdiction
The court explained that diversity jurisdiction requires complete diversity: every plaintiff must be a citizen of a different state from every defendant. The removal notice identified both Horizon and State Farm as citizens of Illinois. Because a plaintiff and a defendant were citizens of the same state, complete diversity did not exist.
Disposition
Judge Kenneth M. Karas remanded the case to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Orange. The Clerk was directed to mail a certified copy of the order to the state-court clerk, terminate the pending letter motion, and close the federal case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.