River North Farms Incorporated v. GNS Frac, LLC et al

Filing 16

ORDER re 13 Notice (Other) filed by Cave City Sand, LLC. Signed by Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander on 07/07/16. (sd)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
GREENVILLE DIVISION

RIVER NORTH FARMS INCORPORATED
VS.

PLAINTIFF

CIVIL ACTION NO.: 4:16-CV-131-DMB-SAA

GNS FRAC, LLC, AND CAVE CITY SAND, LLC

DEFENDANTS

ORDER
On June 27, 2016, this court issued an order to defendant Cave City Sand, LLC to show
cause as to why this case should not be dismissed due to the absence of diversity under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1332. Docket 9. In its original notice of removal, Cave City Sand, LLC asserted only that
“plaintiff is an Oklahoma corporation,” that “GNS Frac, LLC is an Alabama limited liability
company qualified to do business in the state of Mississippi,” and that “Cave City Sand, LLC is a
Delaware corporation.” Docket 1, p. 2.
On July 4, 2016, and in response to the court’s order to show cause, Cave City Sand,
LLC filed an amended notice of removal. Docket 13. Cave City Sand, LLC thoroughly detailed
plaintiff’s state of incorporation and principal place of business, as well as the identities of the
individual members of the two LLC defendants. However, when detailing its own members and
those of GNS Frac, LLC, Cave City did not list the citizenship of each LLC’s members.
Instead, Cave City listed the residency of the LLC members.
For purposes of diversity jurisdiction, the domicile of the parties, as opposed to their
residence, is the key. See Combee v. Shell Oil Co., 615 F.2d 698, 700 (5th Cir. 1980). A party’s
residence in a state alone does not establish domicile. Preston v. Tenet Healthsystem Mem’l
Med. Ctr., 485 F.3d 793, 798 (5th Cir. 2007). Because an allegation of residency is not sufficient

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for diversity jurisdiction purposes, a plaintiff must allege citizenship to satisfy the requirements
of 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). See Nadler v. Am. Motors Sales Corp., 764 F.2d 409, 413 (5th Cir.
1985). A limited liability company’s citizenship is determined by the citizenship of each of its
members. Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077, 1079-80 (5th Cir. 2008) (emphasis
added).
Because Cave City only listed the residencies of the LLC members in the amended notice
of removal, it has not established the citizenship of the parties and consequently has not met its
burden of establishing jurisdiction. The court applauds Cave City for its detailed accounts of its
membership and those of GNS Frac, LLC. However, in order to appropriately establish diversity
jurisdiction in this court, Cave City Sand, LLC must file a second amended notice of removal
asserting an appropriate basis for federal court jurisdiction (i.e. the citizenship of the LLC
members) within seven (7) days of the date of this order.
SO ORDERED this, the 7th day of July, 2016.

/s/ S. Allan Alexander
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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