Williamson et al v. SL Western Lounge, LLC

Filing 13

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER OF REMAND (See Full Order) IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this case is remanded to the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri. Signed by District Judge Catherine D. Perry on 3/20/17. (EAB) (Copy of Order and docket sheet mailed to STL City on 3/20/17). (EAB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
KAREN WILLIAMSON, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
SL WESTERN LOUNGE, LLC,
Defendant.

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Case No. 4:17 CV 810 CDP

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER OF REMAND
On March 9, 2017, I ordered defendant to show cause why this case should
not be remanded for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. As I explained, defendant
cited only plaintiffs’ barebones allegations as evidence that the amount in
controversy exceeds $75,000, which is insufficient to establish damages in excess
of the jurisdictional amount. See Knudson v. Systems Painters, Inc., 634 F.3d 968,
974 (8th Cir. 2011). In responding to my Show Cause Order, defendant offered no
supporting evidence establishing that the amount in controversy has been met.
Instead, it simply pointed once again to the allegations in the state court petition
and cited other, distinguishable decisions from this court. These cases do not
support a finding of jurisdiction in this case, where defendant offers nothing other
than plaintiffs’ barebones allegations that damages exceed the state-court
jurisdictional minimum. If I were to accept defendant’s argument, then any state

court personal injury case with diverse parties would be removable solely because
plaintiffs are required to plead damages in excess of $25,000 to meet the circuit
court’s jurisdictional threshold. This is not the law. Id.
As defendant has failed to establish that the amount in controversy has been
met, this case will be remanded to state court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this case is remanded to the Circuit Court
of the City of St. Louis, Missouri.

CATHERINE D. PERRY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated this 20th day of March, 2017.

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