Catlin Insurance Company et al v. Sentinel Insurance Company, Ltd. et al

Filing 96

ORDER: Plaintiffs are hereby ORDERED to file an affidavit listing the members of WWIG, LLC and the citizenship of each member by December 9, 2024. For each individual member of WWIG, LLC, the affidavit must list their domicile. For each member of WW IG, LLC that is itself an LLC, including Brody Amirian Group, LLC, Eastern R LLC, Queen Hudelina, LLC, and Brazo Property Co., LLC, the affidavit must list all the members of that LLC and their citizenship. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Vernon S. Broderick on 11/26/2024) (sgz)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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:
CATLIN INSURANCE COMPANY, FPG
:
CLINTON ACQUISITION, LLC, FORTIS
:
PROPERTY GROUP LLC, and WONDER
:
:
WORKS CONSTRUCTION CORP.,
:
Plaintiffs,
:
:
-against:
:
SENTINEL INSURANCE COMPANY,
:
LTD. and CONTACT PLUS ELECTRICAL :
:
CORP.,
:
Defendants. :
--------------------------------------------------------- X

23-CV-5355 (VSB)
ORDER

VERNON S. BRODERICK, United States District Judge:
On June 23, 2023, this action was removed to federal court on the basis of diversity
jurisdiction. (Doc. 1.) On October 30, 2023, Plaintiffs filed a motion to remand the case to state
court. (Doc. 19.) On November 13, 2024, Defendant Sentinel Insurance Company filed a crossmotion seeking leave to file an amended notice of removal. (Doc. 24.) On July 17, 2024, I
issued an Opinion & Order denying Plaintiffs’ motion to remand, granting Defendant’s motion to
amend, and directing Plaintiffs to file a sworn affidavit listing the members of FPG Clinton
Acquisition, LLC (“FPG”) and Fortis Property Group, LLC (“Fortis”) and the state of which
each member is a citizen. (Doc. 58.) On August 12 and 20, Mr. Partom Palazzo, Fortis’s Chief
Financial Officer, filed deficient affidavits listing the “directors and officers” of Fortis, but not its
members. (Docs. 63 & 69.) On September 3, 2024, I scheduled a conference for October 16,
2024, to address the membership of each LLC. (Doc. 71.)
At this conference, I heard sufficient testimony about the membership of the entities and

the citizenship of the members to establish the citizenship of Fortis Property Group, LLC, but
there were still open questions concerning the citizenship of FPG Clinton Acquisition, LLC.
Specifically, Mr. Palazzo testified that Plaintiff FPG Clinton Acquisition, LLC (a Delaware
LLC) is wholly owned by a separate company also called FPG Clinton Acquisition, LLC (a New
York LLC), which is in turn wholly owned by FPG West 48th Street LLC. FPG West 48th Street
LLC is 75% owned by Fortis Property Group, LLC, for which we had established the citizenship,
and 25% owned by WWIG, LLC. Mr. Palazzo was not prepared to testify to the membership of
WWIG, LLC or the citizenship of each member. I therefore ordered Plaintiffs to file various
affidavits by November 1, 2024: (1) sworn statements from Louis Kestenbaum, Joel
Kestenbaum, and Terrence Storey, addressing their citizenship, as well as their membership in
Fortis Property Group, LLC; (2) an affidavit listing the members of FPG Clinton Acquisition,
LLC and the citizenship of each member; and (3) in the event WWIG, LLC has an ownership
interest in FPG Clinton Acquisition, LLC, an affidavit listing the members of WWIG, LLC and
the citizenship of each member. (Doc. 79.) Plaintiffs failed to file the affidavits by the deadline,
and Defendants filed a letter regarding Plaintiffs continued failure to comply with this Court’s
orders. (Doc. 84.) I granted Plaintiffs an extension and warned them that failure to comply
would lead to dismissal of the case for failure to comply with a court order. (Doc. 86.)
Plaintiffs failed to fully comply. Plaintiffs filed timely affidavits from Louis
Kestenbaum, Joel Kestenbaum, and Terrence Storey (Docs. 90-92), as well as an untimely
affidavit from Joseph Klaynberg attesting that he is the President and Chairman of Wonder
Works Construction Corporation and that he resides in New York, (Doc. 93). Klaynberg’s
affidavit had an attachment listing the members of WWIG, LLC, many of which are LLCs
themselves. Klaynberg’s affidavit failed to clarify the relationship between Wonder Works

Construction Corporation and WWIG, LLC, nor did it list the citizenship of each member of
WWIG, LLC. Without the citizenship of each member, I cannot determine the citizenship of
WWIG, LLC, and thus I cannot determine the citizenship of FPG Clinton Acquisition, LLC, a
party to this action.
Plaintiffs are hereby ORDERED to file an affidavit listing the members of WWIG, LLC
and the citizenship of each member by December 9, 2024. For each individual member of
WWIG, LLC, the affidavit must list their domicile. For each member of WWIG, LLC that is
itself an LLC, including Brody Amirian Group, LLC, Eastern R LLC, Queen Hudelina, LLC,
and Brazo Property Co., LLC, the affidavit must list all the members of that LLC and their
citizenship.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: November 26, 2024
New York, New York

Vernon S. Broderick
United States District Judge