Lienfactors, LLC v. Grant

Filing 15

ORDER granting 11 Motion to Remand to State Court. Signed by Judge Stefan R. Underhill on 06/13/2011. (Yaster, B.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
LIENFACTORS, LLC, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
No. 3:11cv876 (SRU)
v.
LEROY GRANT,
Defendant.
RULING ON AMENDED MOTION TO REMAND TO STATE COURT
On May 31, 2011, the defendant, Leroy Grant, appearing pro se, removed this case from
state court. Grant previously attempted to remove this same case, and the court remanded it to
state court. In that decision, I found that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the
original complaint only included state law claims, and a defendant may not remove a case based
on a pleaded federal defense. Remand Order (3:10cv1545 (SRU), doc. # 5) (citing Franchise
Tax Bd. v. Constr. Laborers Vacation Trust for S. Cal., 463 U.S. 1, 14 (1983)). Nor may a
defendant remove a case by pleading a federal counterclaim. Holmes Group, Inc. v. Vornado Air
Circulation Sys., Inc., 535 U.S. 826, 831-32 (2002).
Grant’s removal appears to be based on federal defenses and/or counterclaims that he has
pursued in state court. See Notice of Removal (doc. # 1) (alleging discrimination and
deprivation of due process of law). It is undisputed that the parties are not diverse. The
plaintiffs filed a motion to remand to state court (doc. # 7) and, thereafter, an amended motion to
remand (doc. # 11). For the same reasons set forth in the court’s prior ruling, the plaintiffs’
amended motion to remand (doc. # 11) is GRANTED. Grant may not remove this case based on
the federal questions present in his defenses and/or counterclaims. Removal would only be
appropriate had the plaintiffs pled a federal question — or, at the very least, had the plaintiffs
failed to plead necessary federal questions. Franchise Tax Bd., 463 U.S. at 22.

The case shall be remanded to state court, and the clerk shall close this file.
It is so ordered.
Dated at Bridgeport, Connecticut, this 13th day of June 2011.

/s/ Stefan R. Underhill
Stefan R. Underhill
United States District Judge

-2-