Westfield Insurance Company v. Windsor Homes Inc et al
Filing
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OPINION AND ORDER: Plaintiff is ORDERED to supplement the record on or before 2/17/2017, by filing an amended complaint that properly alleges the citizenship of all of the parties, tracing such citizenship through all applicable layers of ownership. Signed by Magistrate Judge Susan L Collins on 2/3/2017. (lhc)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
FORT WAYNE DIVISION
WESTFIELD INSURANCE COMPANY,
Plaintiff,
v.
WINDSOR HOMES, INC., et al.,
Defendants.
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) CAUSE NO. 1:17-cv-00042-PPS-SLC
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OPINION AND ORDER
On February 1, 2017, Plaintiff Westfield Insurance Company filed a complaint against
Defendants, alleging that this Court has diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. (DE
1). As the party seeking to invoke federal diversity jurisdiction, Plaintiff bears the burden of
demonstrating that the requirement of complete diversity has been met. See Chase v. Shop’N
Save Warehouse Foods, Inc., 110 F.3d 424, 427 (7th Cir. 1997).
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). In the
complaint, Plaintiff alleges that the members of Defendant Design Basics, LLC, “are individuals
who are citizens of, and reside in the States of Nebraska and Texas.” (DE 1 ¶ 1.7).
These jurisdictional allegations are inadequate. Plaintiff cannot merely allege a “naked
declaration that there is diversity of citizenship” in its complaint. Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC,
487 F.3d 531, 533 (7th Cir. 2007). The Court must be advised of the name of each member of
Design Basics, LLC, and such member’s citizenship. See, e.g, Guar. Nat’l Title Co. v. J.E.G.
Assocs., 101 F.3d 57, 59 (7th Cir. 1996) (explaining that the court would “need to know the
name and citizenship(s)” of each partner for diversity jurisdiction purposes).
Therefore, Plaintiff is ORDERED to supplement the record on or before February 17,
2017, by filing an amended complaint that properly alleges the citizenship of all of the parties,
tracing such citizenship through all applicable layers of ownership.
SO ORDERED.
Entered this 3rd day of February 2017.
/s/ Susan Collins
Susan Collins,
United States Magistrate Judge
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