Dudley v. Ring et al

Filing 4

TEXT ORDER re the Plaintiff's Complaint. See Written Order. Entered by Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley on 2/5/2015. (KZ, ilcd)

E-FILED

Thursday, 05 February, 2015 10:13:52 AM
Clerk, U.S. District Court, ILCD

IN THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
PEORIA DIVISION
LARRY D. DUDLEY, JR.,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 1:15-cv-01060-JES-JEH

PATTON-RING and TRAVELERS
INSURANCE,
Defendants.
Order
Federal courts are “courts of limited jurisdiction. They possess only that
power authorized by Constitution and statute.”

Kokkonen v Guardian Life

Insurance Co of America, 511 US 375, 377 (1994), quoted by Exxon Mobil Corp v
Allapattah Services, Inc, 545 US 546, 552 (2005). Their jurisdiction is generally
defined in 28 USC § 1331 and § 1332. It is presumed that a cause lies outside the
limited jurisdiction, Kokkonen, 511 US at 377, and it is a plaintiff’s obligation to
plead sufficient information so that the court may determine whether the subject
matter of the dispute may be brought within that limited jurisdictional purview.
A review of Plaintiff’s complaint in this matter reveals no apparent basis
for this Court to exercise its jurisdiction over this dispute. Although the case was
filed as a civil rights case (using a form Pro Se Civil Rights Complaint (NonPrisoner)), the allegations of the Complaint call that characterization into
question.
In this case, the Complaint provides that the Plaintiff was fired from his
job in retaliation for filing a workman’s compensation claim against Travelers
Insurance. (Doc. 1 at pg. 2). Defendants are an individual named Ralph Ring
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and Travelers Insurance. 1 There is nothing in the Complaint from which it might
be inferred that this is a civil rights case over which the federal court would have
jurisdiction. It therefore appears to the Court that subject matter jurisdiction is
lacking.
Rather than dismissing the case, however, the Court will allow the Plaintiff
one opportunity to amend his complaint in a manner that makes the basis of
jurisdiction clear. The Plaintiff has leave to file, within 21 days of this date, an
amended complaint, setting out the basis for this Court’s jurisdiction over the
subject matter of this dispute. The Plaintiff must also clearly identify who the
Defendants are in both the caption of his amended complaint and the body of his
amended complaint. Failure to file such complaint will result in dismissal of this
lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.
Entered on February 5, 2015.

s/Jonathan E. Hawley
U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Though the Plaintiff listed only Ralph Ring as a Defendant in the body of his Complaint, he listed
“Patton-Ring” and “Travelers Insurance” as Defendants in the caption of the case.

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