Nguyen et al v. Progressive Gulf Insurance Company

Filing 5

ORDER TO AMEND NOTICE OF REMOVAL: Defendant Progressive Gulf Insurance Company shall have 14 days to file an Amended Notice of Removal which clarifies whether defendant CAO Transport and Logistics, LLC is organized as a corporation or a limited liability company, and if the latter properly alleges the citizenship of defendant. Amended Pleadings due by 5/7/2014. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger on 4/23/2014. (SMG)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

LUC NGUYEN AND NHUAN NGUYEN
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NUMBER 14-242-BAJ-SCR
PROGRESSIVE GULF INSURANCE
COMPANY, ET AL
ORDER TO AMEND NOTICE OF REMOVAL
Defendant Progressive Gulf Insurance Company removed this case
asserting subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332,
diversity of citizenship.

Defendant alleged in its Notice of

Removal that the plaintiffs are Louisiana citizens and defendant
CAO Transport and Logistics, LLC is “a Mississippi corporation with
its principal place of business in the State of Mississippi.”
When jurisdiction depends on citizenship, the citizenship of
each

party

must

be

distinctly

and

affirmatively

alleged

in

accordance with § 1332(a) and ©).1
Under § 1332(c)(1) a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of
any 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

1

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).

considering the citizenship of all its members.2
allege

the

citizenship

of

a

corporation

Thus, to properly

the

party

asserting

jurisdiction must alleged both the state(s) of incorporation and
the principal place of business.

For 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).3
Use of the term “LLC” in the name of an entity indicates it is
organized as limited liability company rather than a corporation.
When the party is a limited liability company, the state where it
is organized and where it has its principal place of business do
not

determine

its

citizenship.

Defendant’s

jurisdictional

allegations as to defendant CAO Transport and Logistics, LLC are
not

sufficient

to

establish

diversity

jurisdiction,

if

the

defendant a limited liability company.
Therefore;
IT

IS

ORDERED

that

defendant

Progressive

Gulf

Insurance

Company shall have 14 days to file an Amended Notice of Removal

2

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).
3

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

which clarifies whether defendant CAO Transport and Logistics, LLC
is organized as a corporation or a limited liability company, and
if the latter properly alleges the citizenship of defendant.
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, April 23, 2014.

STEPHEN C. RIEDLINGER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

3