Stewart v. Paschall Truck Lines et al

Filing 9

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff shall have until April 28, 2017, to file an amended complaint properly pleading the citizenship of the parties and establishing subject matter jurisdiction. Amended/Supplemental Pleadings due by 4/28/2017. Signed by District Judge Carol E. Jackson on 4/21/2017. (CLO)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
TRISTA STEWART,
Plaintiff,
vs.
PASCHALL TRUCK LINES, INC., and
MICHAEL BURCHAM,
Defendants.

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No. 4:17-CV-1263 (CEJ)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court sua sponte on the question of subject matter
jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3).
Plaintiff initiated this action on April 6, 2017, invoking jurisdiction based on
diversity of citizenship. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). According to the complaint,
plaintiff is a resident of Missouri and defendant Michael Burcham is a resident of
Ohio. However, “[w]hen it comes to diversity jurisdiction, the words ‘resident’ and
‘citizen’ are not interchangeable.” Reece v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon, 760 F.3d 771, 777
(8th Cir. 2014). With respect to defendant Paschall Truck Lines, Inc., plaintiff
alleges that it is a “foreign company” with its principal place of business in
Kentucky. Plaintiff has not alleged Paschall’s state of incorporation. See §
1332(c)(1) (“[A] corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of every State and
foreign state by which it has been incorporated and of the State or foreign state
where it has its principal place of business.”).
Because the citizenship of the defendants has not been properly pleaded, the
existence of diversity jurisdiction does not appear on the face of the complaint.
Rule 12(h)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure mandates that an action be

dismissed if the court determines that it does not have subject-matter jurisdiction.
However, in lieu of dismissing the case, the Court will give plaintiff the opportunity
to file an amended complaint to cure the defective jurisdictional allegations.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff shall have until April 28, 2017, to
file an amended complaint properly pleading the citizenship of the parties and
establishing subject matter jurisdiction.

___________________________
CAROL E. JACKSON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated this 21st day of April, 2017.

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