Cook v. Sunrise Senior Living Management, Inc. et al

Filing 23

ORDER; 15 Motion to Remand is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to REMAND this action to the Boulder County District Court, by Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya on 12/15/15.(morti, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya
Civil Action No. 15–cv–02352–KMT
COLLETTE L. COOK, an individual,
Plaintiff,
v.
SUNRISE SENIOR LIVING MANAGEMENT, INC., a foreign (Virginia) corporation licensed
to operate in the State of Colorado, and
ATTENTION TO DETAIL, INC., dba Leadbetter Landscaping and Leadbetter Services, a
foreign (Nevada) corporation licensed to operate in the State of Colorado,
Defendants.

ORDER

This matter is before the court on the “Motion to Remand” (Doc. No. 15, filed Nov. 19,
2015). Defendant Sunrise Senior Living Management, Inc., filed its response and joinder to the
motion on December 10, 2015 (Doc. No. 18).
Plaintiff filed her Complaint in the Boulder County District Court on June 15, 2015,
asserting a premises liability claim. (See Doc. No. 1-1.) Defendant Sunrise Senior Living
Management, Inc., filed a Notice of Removal in which it invokes the Court’s jurisdiction
pursuant to the federal diversity jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1332. (Doc. No. 1.) Plaintiff
filed her Motion to Remand arguing Defendant cannot establish the existence of complete
diversity between the parties. (Doc. No. 15.)

Federal district courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, and must have both a
constitutional and statutory basis for exercising jurisdiction. See Lovell v. State Farm Mut. Auto.
Ins. Co., 466 F.3d 893, 897 (10th Cir. 2006); Estate of Harshman v. Jackson Hole Mountain
Resort Corp., 379 F.3d 1161, 1164 (10th Cir. 2004). One statutory basis for federal court
jurisdiction in civil cases is § 1332, pursuant to which a court exercises “diversity jurisdiction”
over state law claims. This statute provides, in pertinent part: “The district courts shall have
original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value
of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is between . . . citizens of different States[.]”
§ 1332(a). When a case satisfying these criteria is commenced in a state court, the defendant
may move the action to federal court by filing a notice of removal. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441(a) &
1446. However, statutes which confer federal court jurisdiction—particularly removal statutes—
are to be narrowly construed so as to preserve the limited role of federal courts. See Pritchett v.
Office Depot, Inc., 420 F.3d 1090, 1094–95 (10th Cir. 2005).
The diversity statute clearly defines the citizenship of corporations for purposes of
diversity jurisdiction and removal: “a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of every State
and foreign state by which it has been incorporated and of the State or foreign state where it has
its principal place of business.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). Defendant Sunrise Senior Living
Management, Inc., now concedes that Defendant Attention to Detail’s principal place of business
is located within Colorado. (See Doc. No. 18, ¶ 2.) Thus, because Plaintiff is a Colorado
resident (Doc. No. 1-1, ¶ 1), there is not complete diversity of the parties to this action.
It is therefore

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ORDERED that the “Motion to Remand” (Doc. No. 15) is GRANTED. The Clerk of
Court is directed to REMAND this action to the Boulder County District Court.
DATED this 15th day of December, 2015.

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