China United Lines, LTD v. Amazon.com Services LLC
- P. Castel
- 1:23-cv-10313
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
China United Lines v. Amazon.com Services: Judge Castel ordered jurisdictional information and a complaint amendment before possible dismissal.
China United Lines, Ltd. must obtain and plead additional citizenship information about Amazon.com Services, LLC. Amazon.com Services must answer the permitted question, and the case may be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction if the complaint is not properly amended or complete diversity cannot be truthfully alleged.
What happened
China United Lines, Ltd. v. Amazon.com Services, LLC involves two breach-of-contract claims. China United Lines based federal jurisdiction only on the parties’ citizenship and alleged that it was organized and based in China, while identifying Amazon.com Services as a Delaware limited liability company with a Delaware business address.
The court said the complaint did not identify the citizenship of Amazon.com Services’ members, information needed to determine whether diversity jurisdiction exists. The court allowed China United Lines to serve one question seeking that information and ordered Amazon.com Services to respond.
The order gives China United Lines 45 days to amend its complaint to correct the jurisdictional omissions. Judge P. Castel stated that if the complaint is not amended, or if China United Lines cannot truthfully allege complete diversity, the action will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without further notice.
The detailed version
- China United Lines, LTD v. Amazon.com Services LLC · No. 1:23-cv-10313
- P. Castel
- Nov. 29, 2023
Background
China United Lines, Ltd. filed two breach-of-contract claims against Amazon.com Services, LLC. The complaint stated that federal subject matter jurisdiction was based solely on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
The complaint alleged that China United Lines was organized in China and had its principal place of business in China. It alleged, based on information and belief, that Amazon.com Services was organized under Delaware law and had a Delaware business address. It did not allege the citizenship of any members of Amazon.com Services, which is a limited liability company.
Jurisdictional Deficiency
The court explained that a complaint relying on diversity jurisdiction must clearly allege the citizenship of the parties. For a limited liability company, that requires identifying the citizenship of its individual members and, if a corporation is a member, the corporation’s state of incorporation and principal place of business. The court also noted that diversity jurisdiction does not exist if both sides include a citizen or subject of a foreign state.
Order
Within 14 days, China United Lines may serve Amazon.com Services with one question seeking the citizenship of all its individual members and the required information for any corporate member. Amazon.com Services must respond within 14 days.
Within 45 days, China United Lines must amend its complaint to correct the jurisdictional omissions. If it does not amend, or cannot truthfully allege complete diversity of citizenship, the action will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without further notice. Judge P. Castel did not decide the merits of the breach-of-contract claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.