Woodside Management Company v. Bruex

Filing 16

Order of Remand: The Court hereby grants the parties' joint motion to remand. This matter is hereby remanded to the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. (Related Doc # 13 ). Judge Sara Lioi on 3/12/2015. (P,J)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
EASTERN DIVISION

WOODSIDE MANAGEMENT CO., et
al.,
PLAINTIFFS,
vs.

ANDERW BRUEX,
DEFENDANT.

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CASE NO. 5:14-cv-1826

JUDGE SARA LIOI

ORDER OF REMAND

Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to remand this matter to state
court (Doc. No. 13 [“Joint Mot.”]). This contract action on a stock purchase agreement
was originally filed in state court by plaintiff Woodside Management Company, an Ohio
company, on July 17, 2014. (Doc. No. 1-1, State Compl.) Defendant Andrew Bruex, a
resident of Michigan, removed this action to federal court, on August 18, 2014, on the
basis of diversity jurisdiction. (Doc. No. 1, Notice of Removal, at 1, citing 28 U.S.C. §
1332.)
In the present motion to remand, the parties represent that, through
discovery, it has been determined that “additional parties need to be added and the
addition of at least one of these necessary parties will destroy diversity.” (Joint Mot. at
159.) The subsequently filed amended complaint identifies Woodside Logic Corp., a
Michigan corporation, as an additional plaintiff. (Doc. No. 15 [“Am. Compl.] ¶ 2.) The
amended complaint further explains that: “[i]n anticipation of this matter being remanded

to Summit County Common Pleas Court, Woodside Logic Corp. registered in Ohio as a
foreign corporation and as required by the Ohio Secretary of State has an Ohio mailing
address for those purposes.” (Id.) Thus, while the heading of the amended complaint lists
an Ohio address for Woodside Logic Corp., the company remains a Michigan
corporation.
With the addition of Woodside Logic Corp. as a party plaintiff, there no
longer remains complete diversity between plaintiffs and defendant, and the Court
cannot, therefore, exercise jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. See
Carden v. Arkomo Assoc., 494 U.S. 185, 187, 110 S. Ct. 1015, 108 L. Ed. 2d 157 (1990)
(diversity jurisdiction requires complete diversity of citizenship between plaintiffs and
defendants) (citation omitted). Accordingly, the Court hereby GRANTS the parties’ joint
motion to remand. This matter is hereby REMANDED to the Summit County Court of
Common Pleas.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 12, 2015
HONORABLE SARA LIOI
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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