Arkansas Valley Drilling, Inc. v. Continental Western Insurance Company

Filing 5

ORDER REMANDING CASE. This action is REMANDED to the Colorado District Court for Fremont County. The Clerk of the Court shall transmit the entire case file to the Clerk of the Colorado District Court for Fremont County, and shall close this case. Signed by Judge Marcia S. Krieger on 01/07/09. (wjc, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF COLORADO The Hon. Marcia S. Krieger Case No. 09-cv-00022-MSK ARKANSAS VALLEY DRILLING, INC., Plaintiff, v. CONTINENTAL WESTERN INSURANCE CO., Defendant ORDER REMANDING CASE THIS MATTER comes before the Court sua sponte. The Plaintiff commenced this action in the Colorado District Court for Fremont County, alleging claims sounding in breach of contract, based on the Defendant's refusal to pay a claim on an insurance policy. In the Complaint filed in the state court, the Plaintiff did not specify the amount of monetary relief sought. The Defendant has sought removal based upon diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.§ 1332. The Defendant contends that the requisite amount in controversy can be inferred from both the Civil Cover Sheet and the factual allegations in the Complaint. Consistent with the reasoning in Baker v. Sears Holding Corp., 557 F. Supp. 2d 1208 (D. Colo. 2007) and Klein v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Companies, D. Colo. Case No. 08-cv02257-MSK, 2008 WL 4948775 (Nov. 18, 2008), the Court finds that the Defendant has not shown specific facts, which if true, would demonstrate that the amount in controversy is at least $75,000. The mere fact that the policy in question affords more than $ 500,000 in coverage does

not necessarily establish the amount in controversy exceeds $ 75,000, as there is no basis on this record to infer that the value of the damages claimed by the Plaintiff exceeds $ 75,000, much less the full policy value. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) this action is REMANDED to the Colorado District Court for Fremont County. The Clerk of the Court shall transmit the entire case file to the Clerk of the Colorado District Court for Fremont County, and shall close this case. Dated this 7th day of January, 2009 BY THE COURT:

Marcia S. Krieger United States District Judge