Kerkorian v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc.

Filing 6

ORDER to SHOW CAUSE Why Matter Should Not be Dismissed for Lack of Jurisdiction, signed by District Judge Dale A. Drozd on 6/26/2018. (Plaintiff is ordered to show cause within seven (7) days of service of this order as to why this case should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.) (Gaumnitz, R)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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PAUL KERKORIAN, an individual, on
behalf of himself and all others similarly
situated,

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Plaintiff,
v.

No. 1:18-cv-00870-DAD-SKO

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE WHY MATTER
SHOULD NOT BE DISMISSED FOR LACK
OF JURISDICTION

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA,
INC., a New Jersey corporation, and DOES
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Defendants.

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Plaintiff filed this putative class action on June 22, 2018, alleging various state law causes

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of action on behalf of a putative class of consumers who purchased POWERbot robotic vacuum

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cleaners from defendant. (Doc. No. 2 at ¶ 1.) Plaintiff’s sole jurisdictional allegation is that this

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court “has jurisdiction over the Defendants named herein because such Defendants do business

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within the State of California.” (Id. at ¶ 7.) Such a jurisdictional allegation is facially deficient.

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“Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction.” Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am.,

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511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994). “[S]ubject matter jurisdiction of the district court is not a waivable

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matter and may be raised at anytime by one of the parties, by motion or in the responsive

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pleadings, or sua sponte by the trial or reviewing court.” Emrich v. Touche Ross & Co., 846 F.2d

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1190, 1194 n.2 (9th Cir. 1988); see also Henderson ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U.S. 428,
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434–35 (2011) (noting objections to subject matter jurisdiction may be raised post-trial). The two

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most common bases for federal subject matter jurisdiction are cases that are based on federal

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law—commonly known as “federal question” jurisdiction, see 28 U.S.C. § 1331—and cases

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between parties of diverse citizenship that involve more than $75,000 in damages—commonly

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known as “diversity” jurisdiction, see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). Additionally, because this is a

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putative class action, it is possible plaintiff intended to invoke this court’s jurisdiction under the

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Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), which provides the federal courts with jurisdiction over

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class actions in which the parties have minimal diversity and there is more than $5 million in

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dispute, exclusive of interest and costs. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d). The complaint here, however,

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identifies no statutory basis for this court’s jurisdiction. A statement that defendants “do business

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within the State of California,” while possibly relevant to the question of personal jurisdiction,

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see, e.g., Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 788 (1984) (holding due process permits personal

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jurisdiction over defendants in states where the defendant has “certain minimum contacts”)

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(quoting Int’l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316 (1945)), provides no basis for this

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court’s subject matter jurisdiction.

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Given the above, plaintiff is ordered to show cause within seven (7) days of service of this

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order as to why this case should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Plaintiff may discharge

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this order to show cause by identifying a statutory basis for jurisdiction and identifying the factual

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allegations in the complaint that support jurisdiction.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:

June 26, 2018
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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