Figueroa-Correa v. Burleigh et al

Filing 5

ORDER as to 1 Notice of Removal filed by Greyhound Lines, Inc., Illinois National Insurance Company. IT IS ORDERED that removing defendants Greyhound Line, Inc. and Illinois National Insurance Company shall have 14 days to file an Amended Notice of Removal.. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger on 1/30/2012. (LSM)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

HECTOR FIGUEROA-CORREA
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NUMBER 12-54-BAJ-SCR
EUGENE BURLEIGH, III, ET AL
ORDER TO AMEND NOTICE OF REMOVAL
Defendants

Greyhound

Line,

Inc.

and

Illinois

National

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

Complaint for Removal (hereafter, notice of removal) the defendants
alleged that the plaintiff alleged “he is ... a resident of
Louisiana,” defendant Illinois National is “a foreign insurer,”
defendant Donald W. Fleming “is domiciled in the State of Texas,”
defendant Eugene Burleigh, III “is domiciled in the State of
Texas,” and defendant Progressive County Mutual Insurance Company
“is a foreign insurer.”1
since

defendant

Fleming

Removing defendants further alleged that
has

not

been

properly

served

his

citizenship must be disregarded.2
When jurisdiction depends on citizenship, the citizenship of

1

Record document number 1, ¶¶ II, VII and VIII. Defendants
alleged that Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance
Company is a
2

Id. ¶ VII.

each

party

accordance

must
with

be
§

distinctly

1332(a)

and

and

affirmatively

(c).3

Under

§

alleged

in

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.
Defendants’ jurisdictional allegations are not sufficient to
establish diversity jurisdiction.

Plaintiff is alleged to be a

“resident” of Louisiana. The state where 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.

And although the state where a person is domiciled is

frequently the same as the state of which the person is a citizen,
this also is not always true.

Again, the better practice is to

allege the state of which the person is a citizen.
But most problematic is that the removing defendants did not
allege

the

states

of

which

defendants

Progressive County Mutual are citizens.
defendants

as

a

“foreign”

insurer

Illinois

National

and

Describing each of these
might

suffice

in

some

circumstances, such as when the removing party would be expected to
have

some

difficulty

in

determining

where

a

corporation

incorporated and has its principal place of business.

3

is

But here

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).
2

defendant Illinois National is a removing party and defendant
Progressive County Mutual specifically consented to the removal.
Surely, each knows in which states it is incorporated and where
each has its principal place of business.
Therefore;
IT IS ORDERED that removing defendants Greyhound Line, Inc.
and Illinois National Insurance Company shall have 14 days to file
an Amended Notice of Removal which properly alleges the citizenship
of the plaintiff and of defendants Illinois National Insurance
Company,

Eugene

Burleigh,

III,

and

Progressive

County

Mutual

Insurance Company.
Removing defendants are not required to amend their notice of
removal as to defendant Fleming at this time.

Nevertheless they

should do so to avoid having to further amended the notice of
removal later.
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 30, 2012.

STEPHEN C. RIEDLINGER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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