Shandon Valley Transport Solutions USA, LLC v. Design Pallets, Inc. et al
Filing
59
ORDER REGARDING MOTIONS: 31 Motion for Determination of Jurisdiction, 44 Motion to Amend Complaint, 4 Motion for Joinder, and 43 Motion to Consolidate are granted. First Amended Complaint 44 , begining page 5, is accepted as filed. 29 Motion to Transfer Venue is denied as moot. 12-cv-02094-REB is consolidated with this case for all purposes. By Judge Christine M. Arguello on 10/24/12.(dkals, ) Modified on 10/24/2012 (dkals, ).
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge Christine M. Arguello
Civil Action No. 12-cv-01900-CMA-BNB (Consolidated for all purposes with
Civil Action No. 12-cv-02094-REB)
SHANDON VALLEY TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS USA, LLC, a Colorado
limited liability company, d/b/a SVTS GLOBAL,
Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant,
v.
DESIGN PALLETS, INC., a Florida corporation,
DOUGLAS A. OLVEY, a Florida resident, and
JAMES DANKO, a Florida resident,
Defendants/Counterclaim
Plaintiff/Third-Party Plaintiff,
v.
ADAM M. PENER, a Missouri resident,
COLIN D. CLARK, a Colorado resident,
STEVEN C. DAVIS, an Oklahoma resident, and
DAVID W. FELL, a Colorado resident,
Third-Party Defendants.
Civil Action No. 12-cv-02094-REB
DESIGN PALLETS, INC., a Florida corporation,
Plaintiff,
v.
SHANDON VALLEY TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS USA, LLC,
a/k/a SVTS GLOBAL, a Colorado limited liability company,
ADAM N. PENER,
COLIN D. CLARK,
STEVEN D. DAVIS, and
DAVID W. FELL,
Defendants.
ORDER REGARDING MOTIONS
This matter is before the Court on Defendants= unopposed AMotion for Determination of Jurisdiction.@ (Doc. # 31.) The concern animating Defendants= motion stems
from a procedural wrinkle that occurred when this case was removed from state court.
After Plaintiff moved to amend its complaint, seeking to add Douglas A. Olvey and
James Danko as Defendants, Olvey and Danko removed the case, despite the state
court not having ruled on the motion to amend.1 (See id.) Defendants now want the
Court to assure them that this procedural hiccup has not impinged the Court=s Asubject
matter jurisdiction over the claims and parties under the First Amended Complaint.@
(Id. at 7.) The Court=s response is two-fold.
First, Defendants apparently misunderstand the Court=s basis for subject matter
jurisdiction in this case. Such jurisdiction is premised on 28 U.S.C. ' 1332(a), in which
Adistrict courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in
controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000 . . . and is between . . . citizens of
different States . . . .@ As Plaintiff notes, the amount in controversy here exceeds
$75,000. (Doc. # 27 at 2.) And complete diversity of citizenship exists between Plaintiff
and Defendants.2 Because the purported defect in the removal procedure raised by
Defendants does not relate to these two considerations under ' 1332(a), it does not
affect the Court=s subject matter jurisdiction. See, e.g., 16 James WM. Moore et al.,
Moore=s Federal Practice & 107.41[1][c][ii][A] (3d ed. 2011) (procedural defect Arefers
1
Plaintiff and Defendant Design Pallets, Inc. both consented to removal of the case. (See
Docs. ## 4; 27.)
2
Although, like Plaintiff, two of the Third-Party Defendants in this case are Colorado citizens,
Aa third-party defendant joined under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 14 does not become a
defendant as against the original plaintiff, so that federal jurisdiction is not destroyed where
those parties are citizens of the same state.@ Spring City Corp. v. Am. Bldgs. Co., 193 F.3d
165, 169 (3rd Cir. 1999).
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to any defect that does not go to the question of whether the case could originally have
been filed in federal district court@).
Second, removing the procedural blemish in this case would require, as
Defendants suggest, Aremand[ing] to the Denver District Court for [the] limited purpose
of the Denver District Court ruling on [Plaintiff=s] Motion to Amend . . . .@ (Doc. # 31
at 7.) The Court declines to pursue this course, which it finds both unnecessary,
because the alleged defect does not preclude the Court from exercising subject
matter jurisdiction, and inefficient, especially since Plaintiff has consented to the case
proceeding in federal court.
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that Defendants= AMotion for Determination
of Jurisdiction@ (Doc. # 31) is GRANTED for the reasons explained above. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff=s unopposed AMotion for Leave to Amend
Complaint@ (Doc. # 44 at 1-4) is GRANTED and Plaintiff=s AFirst Amended Complaint@
(Doc. # 44 at 5-49) is ACCEPTED AS FILED. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that ADefendant Design Pallets, Inc.=s Joinder in
Defendants Douglas A. Olvey=s and James Danko=s Notice of Removal@ (Doc. # 4)
is GRANTED. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants= AMotion to Transfer Venue@ (Doc. # 29)
is DENIED AS MOOT, based on Defendants= ANotice to Withdraw Motion to Transfer
Venue@ (Doc. # 46). It is
FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s unopposed “Motion to Consolidate” (Doc.
# 43) is GRANTED and that, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a)(2) and D.C.COLO.LCivR
3
42.1, Design Pallets, Inc. v. Shandon Valley Transport USA, LLC, et al., Civil Action
No. 12-cv-02094-REB is hereby CONSOLIDATED with Civil Action No. 12-cv-01900CMA-BNB for all purposes. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that under D.C.COLO.LCivR 42.1, Civil Action No. 12-cv02094-REB is REASSIGNED to United States District Judge Christine M. Arguello and
United States Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that all future filings in these consolidated actions shall be
captioned as shown below:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge Christine M. Arguello
Civil Action No. 12-cv-01900-CMA-BNB (Consolidated for all purposes with
Civil Action No. 12-cv-02094-CMA-BNB)
SHANDON VALLEY TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS USA, LLC,
a Colorado limited liability company, d/b/a SVTS GLOBAL,
Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant,
v.
DESIGN PALLETS, INC., a Florida corporation,
DOUGLAS A. OLVEY, a Florida resident, and
JAMES DANKO, a Florida resident,
Defendants/Counterclaim
Plaintiff/Third-Party Plaintiff,
v.
4
ADAM M. PENER, a Missouri resident,
COLIN D. CLARK, a Colorado resident,
STEVEN C. DAVIS, an Oklahoma resident, and
DAVID W. FELL, a Colorado resident,
Third-Party Defendants.
DATED: October _24__, 2012
BY THE COURT:
________________________________
CHRISTINE M. ARGUELLO
United States District Judge
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