Gagnard v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc et al

Filing 4

MEMORANDUM ORDER: The defendants will be allowed until 6/22/2015 to file an amended notice of removal and set forth with specificity the citizenship of the LLC defendant. Signed by Magistrate Judge Mark L Hornsby on 6/3/2015. (crt,Keifer, K)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
ALEXANDRIA DIVISION

ELIZABETH GAGNARD

CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-cv-1797

VERSUS

JUDGE DRELL

WAL-MART STORES, INC., ET AL

MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY

MEMORANDUM ORDER
Elizabeth Gagnard (“Plaintiff”) filed suit in state court and alleged that she was
injured in a slip and fall accident in a Wal-Mart store. Defendants Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and
Wal-Mart Louisiana, LLC removed the case based on an assertion of diversity jurisdiction,
which places the burden on them to set forth the facts to establish the requisite amount in
controversy and that there is complete diversity of citizenship. The current notice of removal
does not satisfy that burden with respect to the citizenship of one defendant.
The notice of removal alleges that Plaintiff is a citizen of Louisiana and that Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Arkansas. Those
allegations are sufficient to allege the citizenship of those parties. With respect to Wal-Mart
Louisiana, LLC, the notice alleges only that it is a Delaware limited liability company with
its principal place of business in Arkansas. That allegation does not comply with the rules
for determining the citizenship of an LLC or other unincorporated entity. Those rules can
be found in cases such as Adams v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2014 WL 2949404 (W. D. La.
2014) and Burford v. Stateline Gathering System, LLC, 2009 WL 2487988 (W. D. La. 2009).

Defendants will be allowed until June 22, 2015 to file an amended notice of removal and set
forth with specificity the citizenship of the LLC defendant.
Wal-Mart Louisiana, LLC’s current counsel properly set forth the citizenship of the
LLC in an Amended Notice of Removal filed in Adams v. Wal-Mart, 14-cv-757 (Doc. 17)
after the above-cited order issued and pointed out similar deficiencies. See also Riggio v.
Wal-Mart,

14-cv-0442

(Notice

of

Removal,

¶

5).

Those

allegations

of

membership/citizenship may be consulted and, if still current, employed in this case. It is
necessary that the proper allegations of citizenship be included in the record of this case to
avoid the risk of what happened in Howery v. Allstate, 243 F.3d 912 (5th Cir.2001), where
Allstate saw a favorable judgment thrown out on appeal because it neglected to plead all
details of its citizenship when in the district court.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 3rd day of June, 2015.

Page 2 of 2