Weigand Construction Company Inc v. Wortman Brothers LLC et al
Filing
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OPINION AND ORDER re 1 COMPLAINT filed by Plaintiff Weigand Construction Company Inc. Plaintiff ORDERED to file by 7/29/2014 an Amended Complaint properly alleging the citizenship of Defendant Wortman Brothers LLC. Signed by Magistrate Judge Roger B Cosbey on 7/15/14. (cer)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
FORT WAYNE DIVISION
WEIGAND CONSTRUCTION CO.,
INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
WORTMAN BROTHERS, LLC, and
WESTERN SURETY COMPANY,
Defendants.
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CASE NO: 1:14-cv-210
OPINION and ORDER
This case was filed here on July 14, 2010, by Plaintiff Weigand Construction Company,
Inc., an Indiana corporation with its principal place of business in Indiana, based on diversity
jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). (Docket # 1.) The complaint alleges that Defendant
Western Surety is a South Dakota corporation with its principal place of business in Illinois, and
that Defendant Wortman Brothers, LLC, is an Ohio limited liability company with its principal
place of business in Ohio. (Compl. ¶¶ 2, 3.)
As the party seeking to invoke federal diversity jurisdiction, Plaintiff bears the burden of
demonstrating that the requirement of complete diversity has been met. Chase v. Shop ‘N Save
Warehouse Foods, Inc., 110 F.3d 424, 427 (7th Cir. 1997). Here, however, the complaint fails to
properly allege the citizenship of Wortman Brothers, LLC.
To explain, a limited liability company’s citizenship “for purposes of . . . diversity
jurisdiction is the citizenship of its members.” Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th
Cir. 1998). Such citizenship must be “traced through multiple levels” for those members of
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Wortman Brothers, LLC, who are a partnership or limited liability company, as anything less can
result in a dismissal for want of jurisdiction. Mut. Assignment & Indem. Co. v. Lind-Waldock &
Co., LLC, 364 F.3d 858, 861 (7th Cir. 2004). Therefore, Plaintiff must advise the Court of each
member of Wortman Brothers, LLC, and such member’s citizenship.1
Accordingly, Plaintiff is ORDERED to supplement the record by filing an Amended
Complaint on or before July 29, 2014, properly alleging the citizenship of Defendant Wortman
Brothers, LLC.
SO ORDERED.
Enter for this 15th day of July, 2014.
s/ Roger B. Cosbey
Roger B. Cosbey,
United States Magistrate Judge
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“Allegations of federal subject matter jurisdiction may not be made on the basis of information and belief,
only personal knowledge.” Yount v. Shashek, No. Civ. 06-753-GPM, 2006 WL 4017975, at *10 n.1 (S.D. Ill. Dec. 7,
2006) (citing Am.’s Best Inns, Inc. v. Best Inns of Abilene, L.P., 980 F.2d 1072, 1074 (7th Cir. 1992)).
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