BURRIS v. FARES SURGICAL ASSOCIATES, P.A. et al

Filing 3

OPINION filed. Signed by Judge Mary L. Cooper on 4/29/2011. (mmh)

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
DONALD A. BURISS,
Plaintiff,
v.
FARES SURGICAL ASSOCIATES,
P.A., et al.,
Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-861 (MLC)
O P I N I O N

THE PLAINTIFF PRO SE — not the defendants — removed this
action from New Jersey state court.

(Dkt. entry no. 1, Rmv.

Not.; id., Ex. A, State Court Complaint.)

The document filed by

the plaintiff is a notice of removal; it is incorrectly
identified on the docket as an original federal complaint.

(See

dkt. entry no. 1.)
“[I]T IS AXIOMATIC that a plaintiff may not remove an action
to federal court.”

La Chemise Lacoste v. Alligator Co., 506 F.2d

339, 343 n.4 (3d Cir. 1974); see Conner v. Salzinger, 457 F.2d
1241, 1242-43 (3d Cir. 1972) (stating same); Redmer v. Bor. of
Pine Beach, No. 91-4572, 1991 WL 247002, at *2 (D.N.J. Nov. 18,
1991) (stating “plaintiffs’ attempt to remove their own case to
federal district court is ineffectual”).

The Court will

therefore remand the action to state court.

For good cause

appearing, the Court will issue an appropriate order and
judgment.1
s/ Mary L. Cooper
MARY L. COOPER
United States District Judge
Dated:

April 29, 2011

1

The plaintiff asserts jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1332. (See Rmv. Not. at 1 (stating “jurisdiction founded on
diversity of citizenship” and “Plaintiff is a citizen of . . . New
Jersey and [two of the defendants] . . . are citizens of . . .
Pennsylvania”).) The assertion is without merit, as it is obvious
from the face of the Complaint that several other defendants are
New Jersey citizens, and thus the plaintiff is not a “citizen[]
of [a] different State[]” in relation to each defendant. 28
U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1); see Lincoln Prop. Co. v. Roche, 546 U.S. 81,
89 (2005) (reading “the statutory formulation ‘between . . .
citizens of different States’ to require complete diversity
between all plaintiffs and all defendants” (emphasis added)).
2