Jimenez v. Canada Transport Manic, Inc.

Background

Jose Antonio Jimenez and Inmaculada Jimenez are the plaintiffs. Canada Manic Transport, Inc. and Circe Normand are the defendants. The parties jointly asked the court to remand, meaning return, the action to state court. They based the request on the fact that a passenger in the vehicle driven by a plaintiff had filed a state-court action involving the same parties and arising from the same accident.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that federal law allows remand motions based on a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction or certain defects in the removal process. A remand motion based on a defect generally must be filed within 30 days after the notice of removal. The court also noted that courts in the district have held that a plaintiff cannot obtain remand for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction merely by reducing the amount sought below the required amount in controversy.

The court stated that it was sympathetic to the parties’ request but that the parties needed to address whether the court had authority to grant it. The court also directed them to consider whether their objective could be achieved by other means, such as dismissing this action and refiling it in state court, potentially with the defendants’ agreement not to assert a statute-of-limitations defense.

Disposition

The court did not grant or deny the request for remand. Judge Lewis J. Liman ordered the parties to file a joint letter brief on the federal court’s authority to remand and on possible alternatives no later than March 1, 2024.