McCoy et al v. Manning Construction Co., Inc. et al

Filing 13

ORDER granting 11 plaintiff's motion to remand. Case is remanded to the Circuit Court of Jackson County, MO. Signed on 6/4/15 by District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr. (Enss, Rhonda)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
WESTERN DIVISION
DAVID A. MCCOY, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
FRITZ KINGLSEY,
Defendant.

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

No. 15-0240-CV-W-FJG

ORDER
Pending before the Court is plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand (Doc. No. 11). Plaintiffs
assert that there is no diversity of citizenship between the remaining parties.

In

particular, plaintiffs note that they originally brought suit in the Circuit Court for Jackson
County, Missouri against both the foreman of the construction site, Fritz Kinglsey, and
the general contractor, Manning Construction Company, Inc. Manning Construction
Company, Inc. filed a Notice of Removal on April 1, 2015, asserting that there was
diversity of citizenship between plaintiffs, who are Missouri residents, and Manning,
which is a Kansas corporation. Manning asserted that defendant Kingsley, a Missouri
resident, was fraudulently joined.
On April 27, 2015, plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed Manning from this lawsuit under
Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i), which they could do as a matter of right. At present, the
only parties remaining in the suit are Missouri citizens. Therefore, plaintiffs assert that
this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction (see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1)), and the Court
should issue an order remanding this case to the Circuit Court for Jackson County

Missouri. See 28 U.S.C. § 1446(c). Defendant Kingsley has filed no opposition to the
pending motion.
At present, given that Kingsley is a citizen of the state of Missouri, this Court
lacks subject matter jurisdiction of this case. Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand (Doc. No. 11)
will therefore be GRANTED. This case is REMANDED to the Circuit Court of Jackson
County, Missouri, at Kansas City.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

Date: June 4, 2015
Kansas City, Missouri

S/ FERNANDO J. GAITAN, JR.
Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr.
United States District Judge

2