National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh v. Outdoor Sports Gear

Background

National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA, on behalf of itself and its related insurers, petitioned to confirm and enforce a commercial arbitration award issued in New York, New York. The respondents were Outdoor Sports Gear, LLC, formerly known as Anthony Industries, Inc., and Jarden LLC, formerly known as and successor by merger to Jarden Corporation.

The petition asserted subject matter jurisdiction—the court’s authority to hear the dispute—solely under the diversity-of-citizenship statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1332. It described National Union as an insurance carrier organized in Pennsylvania with its principal place of business in New York, but did not state whether National Union was a corporation or another type of entity. It described Outdoor Sports Gear as a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Atlanta, Georgia, and Jarden as a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Boca Raton, Florida. The petition did not allege the citizenship of any member of either limited liability company.

The court also noted that although the petition invoked the Federal Arbitration Act, that statute does not itself provide federal-question jurisdiction. An independent basis for federal jurisdiction was required.

Order

The court required National Union, within 14 days, to serve one interrogatory on Outdoor Sports Gear and Jarden seeking the citizenship of all natural-person members and, for any corporate member, the corporation’s state of incorporation and principal place of business. The respondents were required to answer within 14 days.

The court also gave National Union 45 days to amend the petition to correct the jurisdictional deficiencies and omissions, including by truthfully and accurately alleging National Union’s entity type and citizenship. The court stated that if National Union failed to amend, or could not truthfully allege complete diversity of citizenship, the action would be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without further notice. Judge P. Castel issued the order.