Stephenson v. Saunders et al

Filing 5

OPINION AND ORDER: Pla to supplement the record by filing an Amended Complaint on/bf 3/7/2013, properly alleging the citizenship of Dft Kutzler Express Inc by including the state in which its principal place of business is located. Signed by Magistrate Judge Roger B Cosbey on 2/21/2013. (lns)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
FORT WAYNE DIVISION
RICHARD STEPHENSON, personal
representative of the estate of SUZANNE K.
STEPHENSON, deceased,

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Plaintiff,
v.
SCOTT A. SAUNDERS, individually, and
KUTZLER EXPRESS, INC.,
Defendants.

CAUSE NO. 1:13-CV-45

OPINION AND ORDER
This case was filed in this Court on February 19, 2013, based on diversity jurisdiction
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). (Docket # 1.) The Complaint alleges that Defendant “Kutzler
Express, Inc. is a Wisconsin corporation and a citizen of the State of Wisconsin.” (Compl. ¶ 5.)
The Complaint, however, is inadequate as to Defendant Kutzler Express, Inc. because
corporations “are deemed to be citizens of the state in which they are incorporated and of the
state in which they have their principal place of business.” N. Trust Co. v. Bunge Corp., 899
F.2d 591, 594 (7th Cir. 1990) (emphasis added); see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). The term “principal
place of business” refers to the corporation’s “nerve center”—the place where a corporation’s
officers direct, control, and coordinate the corporation’s activities. Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 130 S.
Ct. 1181, 1192 (2010).
Thus, the Court must be apprised of both facts—the state of incorporation and the state in
which the principal place of business is located—with respect to Defendant Kutzler Express, Inc.
Here, although the Complaint alleges that Kutzler Express, Inc. is a Wisconsin corporation,
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thereby implying its state of incorporation, it contains no allegations concerning the state in
which Kutzler Express, Inc. maintains its principal place of business.
Therefore, Plaintiff is ORDERED to supplement the record by filing an Amended
Complaint on or before March 7, 2013, properly alleging the citizenship of Defendant Kutzler
Express, Inc. by including the state in which its principal place of business is located.
SO ORDERED.
Enter for this 21st day of February, 2013.
/S/ Roger B. Cosbey
Roger B. Cosbey,
United States Magistrate Judge

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