Robertson et al v. America's Thrift Stores of Louisiana LLC et al

Filing 2

ORDER to Amend Notice of Removal: IT IS ORDERED that removing dfts Americas Thrift Stores of Louisiana, L.L.C. and Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company shall have 14 days to file an Amended Notice of Removal which clarifies the citizenship of the pltf's and properly alleges the citizenship of defendant Americas Thrift Stores of Louisiana, L.L.C.. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger on 1/27/2012. (CMM)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

MELISSA ROBERTSON AND MARK
ROBERTSON

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NUMBER 12-45-JJB-SCR

AMERICA’S THRIFT STORES OF
LOUISIANA, L.L.C., ET AL
ORDER TO AMEND NOTICE OF REMOVAL
Defendants America’s Thrift Stores of Louisiana, L.L.C. and
Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company removed
this case from state court asserting subject matter jurisdiction
under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, diversity of citizenship.

To establish

diversity of citizenship, in the Notice of Removal the defendants
alleged that the plaintiffs “are residents of the Parish of
Ascension, State of Louisiana,” defendant America’s Thrift Stores
of Louisiana, L.L.C. “is a foreign Limited Liability Company ...
incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its
principal place of business located in the State of Alabama,” and
Pennsylvania

National

Mutual

Casualty

Insurance

Company

is

“organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania and its
principal place of business is located in the State of Louisiana.”1
When jurisdiction depends on citizenship, the citizenship of

1

Record document number 1, Notice of Removal, ¶¶ 15, 16.
Defendants alleged that Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty
Insurance Company is a

each

party

must

be

distinctly

and

affirmatively

alleged

in

accordance with § 1332(a) and (c).2
Under § 1332(c)(1) a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of
every state in which it is incorporated and of the state in which
it has its principal place of business. For purposes of diversity,
the citizenship of a limited liability company is determined by
considering the citizenship of all its members.3

Thus, to properly

allege the citizenship of a limited liability company, the party
asserting jurisdiction must identify each of the entity’s members
and

the

citizenship

of

each

member

in

accordance

with

the

requirements of § 1332(a) and (c).4
Defendants’ jurisdictional allegations are not sufficient to
establish diversity jurisdiction.

Rather, the allegations show

that this court probably does not have subject matter jurisdiction.

2

Stafford v. Mobil Oil Corp., 945 F.2d 803, 804 (5th Cir.
1991), citing, McGovern v. American Airlines, Inc., 511 F.2d 653,
654 (5th Cir. 1975)(quoting 2A Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 8.10, at
1662).
3

Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077, 1080 (5th
Cir. 2008); see Carden v. Arkoma Associates, 494 U.S. 185, 110
S.Ct. 1015, 1021 (1990). The determination of the citizenship of
the parties in this case is not affected by the Federal Courts
Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011.
4

The same requirement applies to any member of a limited
liability company which is also a limited liability company or a
partnership.
Turner Bros. Crane and Rigging, LLC v. Kingboard
Chemical Holding Ltd., 2007 WL 2848154 (M.D.La. Sept. 24,
2007)(when partners or members are themselves entities or
associations, citizenship must be traced through however many
layers of members or partners there are).
2

Plaintiffs are alleged to be “residents” of Louisiana.

The

state of which a person is a resident is not always equivalent to
the state of which it is a citizen.

The better practice is to

allege the state of which the person is a citizen.
Because defendant America’s Thrift Stores of Louisiana is
organized as a limited liability company, its citizenship cannot be
determined from the defendants’ allegations.

The state where a

limited liability company is organized and where it has its
principal place of business does not determine its citizenship.
But

most

problematic

is

the

allegation

that

defendant

Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company has its
principal place of business in Louisiana – which makes it a
Louisiana citizen for the purpose of §§ 1332(a) and (c).

Because

both of the plaintiffs are (presumably) Louisiana citizens and so
is

defendant

Pennsylvania

National

Mutual

Casualty

Insurance

Company, there is not complete diversity of citizenship between the
plaintiffs and the defendants.
Therefore;
IT IS ORDERED that removing defendants America’s Thrift Stores
of Louisiana, L.L.C. and Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty
Insurance Company shall have 14 days to file an Amended Notice of
Removal which clarifies the citizenship of the plaintiffs and
properly alleges the citizenship of defendant America’s Thrift
Stores of Louisiana, L.L.C.

3

Failure to comply with this order may result in the case being
remanded for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without further
notice.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, January 27, 2012.

STEPHEN C. RIEDLINGER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

4