Harvey v. Clean Harbors Catalyst Services LLC et al

Filing 47

ORDER AND REASONS: IT IS ORDERED that the 32 motion to intervene is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to American Casualty to re-file a separate motion to intervene. Signed by Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle on 1/11/2017. (mmv)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
DALTON HARVEY, ET AL.

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO. 15-866

CLEAN HARBORS CATALYST SERVICES
LLC, ET AL.

SECTION "B"(2)

ORDER AND REASONS
IT IS ORDERED that the motion to intervene (Rec. Doc. 32) is
DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to American Casualty to re-file a separate
motion to intervene.
Before the Court is a “Motion to Intervene” filed by Plant
Performance Services, Inc. (“P2S”) and American Casualty Company
of Reading Pennsylvania (“American Casualty”). Rec. Doc. 32. On
November 16, 2016, this Court ordered the potential intervenors
and any other interested party to file supplemental briefings
directed to the issue of subject matter jurisdiction over the
proposed complaint in intervention. Rec. Doc. 35. Specifically,
the Court was concerned about maintaining diversity in a case where
Plaintiffs are citizens of Texas, P2S is a limited liability
company in which all of its members are citizens of Delaware, and
American Casualty is a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal
place of business in Illinois. Rec. Doc. 35 at 1-2 (citing Rec.
Docs. 1 at ¶ 1; 32-1 at ¶¶ 1-2).

At the time the Order was issued, there were three Defendants
and the Court had limited information regarding the citizenship of
each.

Specifically,

there

was

Clean

Harbors

Environmental

Services, Inc. (“CHES, Inc.”), a Massachusetts corporation with
its principal place of business in Massachusetts (Rec. Doc. 8 at
¶ 2); Clean Harbors Baton Rouge, LLC (“CHBR, LLC”), a limited
liability company in which none of the members resided in Texas
(id.); and Clean Harbors Catalyst Technologies, LLC (“CHCT, LLC”),
a limited liability company in which none of the members resided
in Texas (Rec. Doc. 14 at ¶ 2). Based on this information, it was
not clear whether P2S and American Casualty were diverse from CHBR,
LLC and/or CHCT, LLC. See Rec. Doc. 35 at 2.
Thereafter, on December 6, 2016, this Court granted a motion
to dismiss CHBR, LLC. Rec. Doc. 45. Thus, the only remaining
question was whether or not P2S and American Casualty were diverse
from

CHCT,

intervenors

LLC.

In

claimed

their
that

supplemental

they

briefing,

discovered

through

potential
their

own

research that CHCT, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company in
which the members appear to reside in Massachusetts. Rec. Doc. 38
at 2. If this were true, diversity would exist and P2S and American
Casualty would be allowed to intervene.
However,

Defendants

informed

the

Court

in

their

own

supplemental briefing that CHCT, LLC “had a name change on January
1, 2014 (prior to suit being filed)” and that CHCT, LLC is now
2

named “Clean Harbors Catalyst Services, LLC.” Rec. Doc. 42 at 4.
When the suit was filed, Clean Harbors Catalyst Services, LLC had
one member, Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc., a Delaware
corporation with its principal place of business in Massachusetts.
Id. Consequently, P2S, a limited liability company in which all of
its members are citizens of Delaware, is not diverse from Clean
Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. (formerly known as CHCT, LLC).
“In any civil action of which the district courts have
original jurisdiction founded solely on section 1332 . . . [they]
shall not have supplemental jurisdiction . . . over claims by
persons . . . seeking to intervene as plaintiffs under Rule 24 .
. . when exercising supplemental jurisdiction . . . would be
inconsistent

with

the

jurisdictional

requirements

of

section

1332.” 28 U.S.C. § 1367(b); see also Griffin v. Lee, 621 F.3d 380
(5th Cir. 2010); Lionheart Dev., LLC v. Apex Bldg. Sys., LLC, 2011
WL 999537 (E.D. La. Mar. 18, 2011). Because P2S is not diverse
from one of the defendants, this Court lacks subject matter
jurisdiction

over

the

complaint

proposed

by

the

potential

intervenors.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 11th day of January, 2017.

___________________________________
SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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