Waterfurnace International Inc v. B&S Sheet Metal Mechanical Inc et al

Filing 14

OPINION AND ORDER re 12 AMENDED NOTICE OF REMOVAL by Defendant William Craig Jackson. Defendant ORDERED to supplement the record by 2/19/2015 to adequately recite the citizenship of Defendant Jackson Geothermal HVAC and Drilling,LLC. Signed by Magistrate Judge Susan L Collins on 2/5/15. (cer)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
FORT WAYNE DIVISION
WATERFURNACE INTERNATIONAL, INC., )
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
)
B&S SHEET METAL MECHANICAL, INC., )
et al.,
)
)
Defendants.
)

CAUSE NO. 1:15-CV-8

OPINION AND ORDER
On January 29, 2015, this Court entered an Opinion and Order instructing pro se
Defendant William Jackson that his amended notice of removal was again inadequate with
respect to alleging diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, affording him through
February 12, 2015, to supplement the record with respect to the citizenship of Defendant Jackson
Geothermal HVAC and Drilling, LLC. (Docket # 9; see Docket # 6.) As the party seeking to
invoke federal diversity jurisdiction, Jackson 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).
But on February 5, 2015, Jackson inexplicably filed what appears to be the same
inadequate Amended Notice of Removal that he filed on January 29, 2015 (Docket # 8), alleging
that “Defendant Jackson Geothermal HVAC and Drilling, LLC, is a fictitious entity organized
and registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with its members being the following
individuals: Defendant Garth Jackson, Defendant William Craig Jackson, Andrew Jackson and
Christopher Jackson,” who are all “individuals domiciled in the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania.” (Am. Notice of Removal ¶¶ 8-12.)
To reiterate, the jurisdictional allegations with respect to Defendant “Jackson Geothermal
HVAC and Drilling LLC,” stating that it is a “fictitious entity” are inadequate. If Jackson
Geothermal HVAC and Drilling, LLC, is a limited liability company as its name suggests, the
Notice of Removal must state so, and then articulate the identity and citizenship of each of its
members. See Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998) (stating that a limited
liability company’s citizenship “for purposes of . . . diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its
members”).
Therefore Jackson is ORDERED to supplement the record on or before February 19,
2015, to adequately recite the citizenship of Defendant Jackson Geothermal HVAC and Drilling,
LLC. As this Court has already twice informed Jackson, anything less can result in a dismissal
or remand for want of jurisdiction. Mut. Assignment & Indem. Co. v. Lind-Waldock & Co., LLC,
364 F.3d 858, 861 (7th Cir. 2004).
SO ORDERED.
Enter for this 5th day of February 2015.
s/ Susan Collins
Susan Collins,
United States Magistrate Judge

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