Sussman Sales Company, Inc. v. VWR International, LLC
- Rearden
- 1:20-cv-02869
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Sussman Sales v. VWR, Judge Rearden required citizenship allegations for VWR’s LLC members and paused discovery while jurisdiction remained unresolved.
Sussman Sales Company, Inc. must obtain and plead information about VWR International, LLC’s members and the parties’ citizenship. VWR must respond to any authorized interrogatory within seven days, and discovery in the case is stayed pending the jurisdictional determination.
What happened
Sussman Sales Company, Inc. sued VWR International, LLC, claiming the federal court had jurisdiction because the parties were citizens of different states. Sussman alleged its New York incorporation and principal place of business, and alleged that VWR’s principal place of business was in Pennsylvania, but it did not identify the citizenship of VWR’s members.
The court allowed Sussman to ask VWR for information about the citizenship of each member and required VWR to respond within seven days after receiving the request. The court also required Sussman to file a second amended complaint by June 30, 2023, limited to properly alleging the parties’ citizenship. If Sussman could not truthfully allege complete diversity, the case would be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The court stayed discovery and terminated the parties’ discovery-related motions.
Judge Jennifer H. Rearden issued the order on June 1, 2023. The order did not dismiss the case at that time; it paused discovery while the court determined whether it had jurisdiction.
The detailed version
- Sussman Sales Company, Inc. v. VWR International, LLC · No. 1:20-cv-02869
- Rearden
- June 1, 2023
Background
Sussman Sales Company, Inc. brought the action against VWR International, LLC, invoking diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Sussman alleged that it was incorporated in New York and had its principal place of business there. It alleged that VWR had its principal place of business in Pennsylvania and, on information and belief, was incorporated in a state other than New York.
The court explained that a limited liability company is a citizen of every state in which its members are citizens. A complaint based on diversity jurisdiction therefore must identify the citizenship of the LLC’s members. For individual members, it must state their citizenship; for corporate members, it must state the place of incorporation and principal place of business; and for LLC members, it must identify the citizenship of their members. The court also stated that citizenship must be affirmatively pleaded rather than alleged only in conclusory terms.
Court’s Orders
The court found that Sussman had not affirmatively pleaded the citizenship of each member of VWR. By June 8, 2023, Sussman could serve VWR with an interrogatory seeking the citizenship of all natural-person members and, if a corporation was a member, its place of incorporation and principal place of business. VWR was required to respond within seven days after service of the interrogatory.
By June 30, 2023, Sussman was required to file a second amended complaint. The amendment was limited to affirmatively alleging the citizenship of each person or entity comprising VWR and the citizenship of the parties. The court stated that, if Sussman could not truthfully allege complete diversity by that date, the case would be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction without further notice.
The court stayed the discovery deadlines while it determined whether subject-matter jurisdiction existed. It directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the parties’ joint letter-motion to extend discovery deadlines and VWR’s letter-motion for a discovery conference.
Disposition
The court did not dismiss the case in this order. It ordered steps to clarify and properly plead citizenship, stayed discovery pending the jurisdictional determination, and terminated the two discovery-related motions.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.