Chavez-Rangel et al v. Amin et al

Filing 4

ORDER - It is therefore ordered that Defendants show cause in writing why this case should not be remanded for lack of subject matter jurisdiction by June 18, 2024. Plaintiffs may file a response by June 25, 2024. Signed by Chief Judge Miranda M. Du on 6/4/2024. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DLS)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***

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MARCO A. CHAVEZ-RANGEL, et al.,
Plaintiffs,

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Case No. 2:24-cv-01008-MMD-BNW
ORDER

v.
ALI HASSAN AMIN, et al.,
Defendants.

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This case comes before the Court through a petition for removal filed by

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Defendants Ali Hassan Amin and CEVA Freight, LLC. (ECF No. 1 (“Petition”).) Plaintiffs

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Marco Chavez-Rangel and Sydney Rangel filed this action in the Eighth Judicial District

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Court in Clark County, Nevada, after an alleged vehicular collision with a truck driven by

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Amin in California. (ECF No. 1 at 8.) Plaintiffs assert claims of negligence, respondeat

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superior, and negligent hiring and supervision. (Id. at 9-11.)

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Defendants removed the action on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. See 28

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U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1441. Based on the Court’s review of the petition, questions exist as to

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whether the Court has jurisdiction to hear this claim. See United Investors Life Ins. Co.

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v. Waddell & Reed Inc., 360 F.3d 960, 967 (9th Cir. 2004) (“[T]he district court had a

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duty to establish subject matter jurisdiction over the removed action sua sponte,

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whether the parties raised the issue or not.”). Specifically, the Court is concerned that

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the $75,000 amount-in-controversy requirement has not been met.

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A defendant’s notice of removal must contain “a plausible allegation that the

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amount in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional threshold.” Dart Cherokee Basin

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Operating Co., LLC v. Owens, 574 U.S. 81, 89 (2014). Though a notice of removal

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“need not contain evidentiary submissions,” id. at 84, a defendant may be required to

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show by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount-in-controversy requirement

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has been satisfied if the Court questions the removing defendant’s allegations as to the

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amount, see Acad. of Country Music v. Cont’l Cas. Co., 991 F.3d 1059, 1068-69 (9th

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Cir. 2021) (citing Arias v. Residence Inn by Marriott, 936 F.3d 920, 925 (9th Cir. 2019)).

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It is not obvious from the Complaint, the Petition, or any other files in the docket

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that the amount-in-controversy requirement has been met. (ECF Nos. 1, 1-1.) The

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Petition claims that it is “apparent on the face of the Complaint that each plaintiff seeks

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recovery of an amount in excess of Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars” because they seek

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“compensation for past and future general damages, past and future medical and pain

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and suffering.” (ECF No. 1 at 2.) But the Complaint only describes the general and

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special damages suffered by Plaintiffs as being in excess of $15,000. (Id. at 12.) At

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most, this appears to add up to a minimum of $60,000 in total requested relief, as

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Plaintiffs’ first cause of action is being brought against both defendants but their second

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and third causes of action are employer liability claims brought only against CEVA

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Freight. (Id. at 9-12.) Defendants offer no additional explanation as to how they reached

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a sum in excess of $75,000.

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For these reasons, Defendants are directed to show cause as to why this action
should not be remanded for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

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It is therefore ordered that Defendants show cause in writing why this case

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should not be remanded for lack of subject matter jurisdiction by June 18, 2024.

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Plaintiffs may file a response by June 25, 2024.

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DATED THIS 4th day of June 2024.

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MIRANDA M. DU
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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