Hathaway et al v. Cintas Corporate Services Inc et al

Filing 9

OPINION AND ORDER; defendants are ORDERED to file an Amended Notice of Removal forthwith, properly alleging on personal knowledge the citizenship of the plaintiffs. Signed by Magistrate Judge Roger B Cosbey on 6/18/10. (jcp)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA FORT WAYNE DIVISION REX HATHAWAY and TAMMY HATHAWAY, Plaintiffs, v. CINTAS CORPORATE SERVICES, INC., et. al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

CAUSE NO. 1:10-CV-195

OPINION AND ORDER This case was removed to this Court from the Allen Superior Court by Defendants based on diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). (Docket # 2.) The Notice of Removal alleges that the Plaintiffs maintain their principal residence in Indiana. (Notice of Removal ¶ 3.) The Defendants' jurisdictional allegations, however, inadequately set forth Plaintiffs' citizenship. The "residency" of a party is meaningless for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, as "citizenship is what matters."1 Guar. Nat'l Title Co. v. J.E.G. Assocs., 101 F.3d 57, 58-59 (7th Cir. 1996) (explaining that statements concerning a party's "residency" are not proper allegations of citizenship as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1332); see 28 U.S.C. § 1332; Nilssen v. Motorola, Inc., 255 F.3d 410, 412 (7th Cir. 2001). "It is well-settled that when the parties allege

For purposes of determining diversity jurisdiction, each party's citizenship must be articulated as of "the time of the filing of the complaint," rather than the date the claims are alleged to have arisen or some other time material to the lawsuit. Multi-M Int'l, Inc. v. Paige Med. Supply Co., 142 F.R.D. 150, 152 (N.D. Ill. 1992); see Denlinger v. Brennan, 87 F.3d 214, 216 (7th Cir. 1996). Furthermore, "[a]llegations of federal subject matter jurisdiction may not be made on the basis of information and belief, only personal knowledge." Yount v. Shashek, 472 F. Supp. 2d 1055, 1057 n.1 (S.D. Ill. 2006); Ferolie Corp. v. Advantage Sales & Mktg., LLC, No. 04 C 5425, 2004 WL 2433114, at *1 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 28, 2004); Hayes v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC, No. 02 C 9106, 2003 WL 187411, at *2 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 21, 2003).

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residence but not citizenship, the court must dismiss the suit." Held v. Held, 137 F.3d 998, 1000 (7th Cir. 1998) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). "For natural persons, state citizenship is determined by one's domicile." Dausch v. Rykse, 9 F.3d 1244, 1245 (7th Cir. 1993); see also Am.'s Best Inns, Inc. v. Best Inns of Abilene, L.P., 980 F.2d 1072, 1074 (7th Cir. 1992) ("In federal law citizenship means domicile, not residence."). Therefore, the Defendants are ORDERED to file an amended Notice of Removal forthwith, properly alleging on personal knowledge the citizenship of the Plaintiffs.

SO ORDERED. Enter for June 18, 2010. /S/ Roger B. Cosbey Roger B. Cosbey, United States Magistrate Judge

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