Torres v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC et al

Filing 35

ORDER GRANTING THE PLAINTIFFS' MOTIONS FOR REMAND TO STATE COURT re 32 - Signed by JUDGE LESLIE E. KOBAYASHI on 3/28/2023. For the foregoing reasons, the plaintiffs' Motions for Remand to State Court, filed in each of the Lake-Related Cases on March 13, 2023, is HEREBY GRANTED. The Clerk's Office is DIRECTED to reopen this case immediately and to effectuate the remand on April 12, 2023, unless Defendants file a timely motion for reconsideration of the instant Order. (eta)

Case 1:16-cv-00655-LEK-KJM Document 35 Filed 03/28/23 Page 1 of 5

PageID.838

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF HAWAII
ROBERT TORRES, ROSEMARIE TORRES,
JONATHAN SPORE, JENNIFER SPORE,
ALEXANDER TEMPLE, JAMIE TEMPLE,
JOHN VINCENT, KERI VINCENT,
VICTOR WESCOTT, VIRGINIA
WESCOTT, JEREMY GRAHAM, CIARA
GRAHAM, KEEVAN WOODS, AMBER
WOODS, DANIEL CAIN, KRISTIN
CAIN, FELIPE CARVALHO, JENNIFER
CARVALHO, JAKE ELLIS, JENNIE
ELLIS,

CIV. NO. 16-00655 LEK-KJM

Plaintiffs,
vs.
OHANA MILITARY COMMUNITIES, LLC,
FOREST CITY RESIDENTIAL
MANAGEMENT, INC., DOE
DEFENDANTS 1-10,
Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING THE PLAINTIFFS’ MOTIONS FOR REMAND TO STATE COURT
On October 2, 2018, the following cases were stayed
and administratively closed, pending the outcome of Lake, et al.
v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et al., CV 16-00555 LEK-KJM
(“Lake”):
1)
2)
3)
4)

Butler, et al. v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et al.,
CV 16-00626 LEK-KJM (“Butler”);
Dix, et al. v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et al.,
CV 16-00627 LEK-KJM;
Manaea, et al. v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et al.,
CV 16-00628 LEK-KJM;
Bartlett, et al. v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et
al., CV 16-00654 LEK-KJM;

Case 1:16-cv-00655-LEK-KJM Document 35 Filed 03/28/23 Page 2 of 5

5)
6)
7)

PageID.839

Torres, et al. v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et al.,
CV 16-00655 LEK-KJM;
Hayes, et al. v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et al.,
CV 17-00047 LEK-KJM; and
Pye, et al. v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et al.,
CV 17-00114 (all collectively “Lake-Related Cases”).

See, e.g., Butler, Minutes - EO: Court Order Administratively
Closing Case, filed 10/2/18 (dkt. no. 28).

Lake has been

remanded to state court, pursuant to Lake v. Ohana Military
Communities, LLC, 14 F.4th 993 (9th Cir. 2021).

See Lake, Order

Remanding Case to State Court, filed 1/10/22 (dkt. no. 209);
id., transmittal letter to Circuit Court (O`ahu First Circuit)
from the Clerk of Court, filed 1/25/22 (dkt. no. 210).1
Further, in another case related to Lake – Ochoa, et
al. v. Ohana Military Communities, LLC, et al., CV 16-00629 LEKKJM (“Ochoa”) – this Court rejected Defendants Ohana Military
Communities, LLC (“Ohana”) and Forest City Residential
Management, Inc.’s (“Forrest City” and collectively
“Defendants”) diversity jurisdiction argument, which was not
raised in Lake.2

See Ochoa, Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion

for Remand to State Court, filed 3/7/23 (dkt. no. 40) (“Ochoa
Remand Order”).

Ochoa was remanded to the state court on

After Lake was remanded to state court, the United States
Supreme Court denied Defendants petition for a writ of
certiorari. See Ohana Military Communities, LLC v. Lake, 142 S.
Ct. 2815 (2022).
1

Ohana and Forrest City are the defendants in Lake, Ochoa,
and the Lake-Relate Cases.
2

2

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March 22, 2023.

PageID.840

See id., transmittal letter to Circuit Court

(Oahu First Circuit) from the Clerk of Court, filed 3/22/23
(dkt. no. 41).
On March 13, 2023, the plaintiffs in the Lake-Related
Cases filed motions to remand their respective cases to the
state court (collectively “Motions”).

See Butler, Plaintiffs’

Motion for Remand to State Court, filed 3/13/23 (dkt. no. 31)
(“Butler Motion”); Dix, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Remand to State
Court, filed 3/13/23 (dkt. no. 32); Manaea, Plaintiffs’ Motion
for Remand to State Court, filed 3/13/23 (dkt. no. 33);
Bartlett, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Remand to State Court, filed
3/13/23 (dkt. no. 34); Torres, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Remand to
State Court, filed 3/13/23 (dkt. no. 32); Hayes, Plaintiffs’
Motion for Remand to State Court, filed 3/13/23 (dkt. no. 30);
Pye, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Remand to State Court, filed 3/13/23
(dkt. no. 29).

Each of the Motions argues the case should be

remanded based upon the Ninth Circuit’s analysis in Lake and
this Court’s analysis in the Ochoa Remand Order.

See, e.g.,

Butler Motion at PageID.899.
On March 16, 2023, this Court informed the parties
that it was inclined to grant the Motions and ordered that any
objections to the inclination be filed within a week.

See,

e.g., Butler, Minute Order - EO: Court’s Inclination to Grant
the Plaintiffs’ Motions for Remand to State Court, filed 3/16/23
3

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(dkt. no. 30).

PageID.841

Defendants filed a substantively identical

statement in each of the Lake-Related Cases.

See, e.g., Butler,

Defendants’ Statement of Position Regarding Court’s Inclination
to Grant the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Remand to State Court, filed
3/16/23 (dkt. no. 30) (“Butler Statement”).

To preserve their

objections for the record, Defendants state they believe federal
jurisdiction in the case is appropriate, but they acknowledge
the arguments they would make in opposition to the Butler Motion
“are not materially distinguishable from” those that they made
previously and that were rejected by the Ninth Circuit in Lake
and by this Court in the Ochoa Remand Order.

Defendants state

“further briefing on this matter is not warranted given the
prior rulings of the Ninth Circuit and this Court.”

[Id. at 3.]

The Court finds the Motions suitable for disposition
without a hearing pursuant to Rule LR7.1(c) of the Local Rules
of Practice for the United States District Court for the
District of Hawaii (“Local Rules”).

Based upon the Ninth

Circuit’s analysis in Lake and, for the reasons stated in the
Ochoa Remand Order, the Lake-Related Cases must be remanded to
the state court.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the plaintiffs’ Motions for
Remand to State Court, filed in each of the Lake-Related Cases
on March 13, 2023, is HEREBY GRANTED.
4

The Clerk’s Office is

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DIRECTED to reopen this case immediately and to effectuate the
remand on April 12, 2023, unless Defendants file a timely motion
for reconsideration of the instant Order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED AT HONOLULU, HAWAII, March 28, 2023.

ROBERT TORRES, ET AL. VS. OHANA MILITARY COMMUNITIES, LLC, ET
AL; CIVIL 16-00655 LEK-KJM; ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTIONS
FOR REMAND TO STATE COURT

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