McDonald v. Gurson et al
Filing
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ORDER OF DISMISSAL by Judge James L. Robart. Because Mr. McDonald fails to establish the court's subject matter jurisdiction, the court dismisses this case without prejudice. (PM)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE
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BRETT D. MCDONALD,
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CASE NO. C17-0619JLR
Plaintiff,
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ORDER OF DISMISSAL
v.
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BORA GURSON, et al.,
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Defendants.
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I.
INTRODUCTION
Before the court is Plaintiff Brett D. McDonald’s response to the court’s order to
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show cause why this case should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
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(Resp. to OSC (Dkt. # 8); see also McDonald Decl. (Dkt. # 8-1); OSC (Dkt. # 5).)
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Because Mr. McDonald’s response inadequately demonstrates the court’s subject matter
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jurisdiction, the court dismisses this matter without prejudice.
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ORDER - 1
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II.
A.
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BACKGROUND & ANALYSIS
Procedural and Factual Background
On April 19, 2017, Mr. McDonald, who is proceeding pro se, filed this lawsuit
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and invoked diversity of citizenship as the basis for subject matter jurisdiction. (See
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Compl. (Dkt. # 1) ¶ 7 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1332).) Mr. McDonald’s complaint names as
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defendants Bora Gurson, RoxyCar Inc., John Doe LLCs, and John Doe Corporations
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(collectively, “Defendants”). (Id. at 1.) Mr. McDonald alleges that he is a resident of
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Washington, Mr. Gurson is a Hawaii resident, and RoxyCar is incorporated in Delaware
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with its principal place of business in Hawaii. (Id. ¶¶ 4-6.) However, Mr. McDonald
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does not allege the domicile of John Doe LLCs and John Doe Corporations. (See
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generally id.) Because Mr. McDonald did not allege the domicile of John Doe LLCs and
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John Doe Corporations, the court concluded that complete diversity between Mr.
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McDonald and Defendants was not clear from the face of the complaint. (See OSC at 2-3
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(citing 28 U.S.C. § 1332; Medina v. Chas Roberts Air Conditioning, Inc., No. CV
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05-4214-PHX-SMM, 2006 WL 2091665, at *6 (D. Ariz. July 24, 2006)).)
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Accordingly, the court ordered Mr. McDonald to show cause within 14 days of the
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court’s order why his complaint should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter
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jurisdiction. (Id. at 3.) The court cautioned Mr. McDonald that his failure to demonstrate
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the court’s subject matter jurisdiction would result in the court dismissing this case
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without prejudice. (Id.) Mr. McDonald’s response is now before the court. (See Resp. to
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OSC.)
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ORDER - 2
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B.
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
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“Section 1332 requires complete diversity of citizenship; each of the plaintiffs
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must be a citizen of a different state than each of the defendants.” Morris v. Princess
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Cruises, Inc., 236 F.3d 1061, 1067 (9th Cir. 2001). Although fictitious defendants are
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not considered for purposes of complete diversity in the removal context, see 28 U.S.C.
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§ 1441(b)(1), there is no comparable provision for diversity jurisdiction more generally,
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see 28 U.S.C. § 1332; Medina v. Chas Roberts Air Conditioning, Inc.,
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No. CV 05-4214-PHX-SMM, 2006 WL 2091665, at *6 (D. Ariz. July 24, 2006) (citing
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Fifty Assocs. v. Prudential Life Ins. Co. of Am., 446 F.2d 1187, 1191 (9th Cir. 1970))
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(“The Ninth Circuit has rejected naming ‘Doe’ defendants in diversity actions, on the
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grounds that complete diversity cannot exist if the identity and citizenship of some
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defendants (i.e., the ‘Does’) are unknown.”). For the purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a
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corporation is a citizen of every state in which it is incorporated and the state that
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constitutes the corporation’s principal place of business, see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1), and
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a limited liability company (“LLC”) is a citizen of every state in which its members are
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domiciled, see Johnson v. Columbia Props. Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir.
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2006). Once the court raises an apparent lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the plaintiff
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bears the burden of demonstrating the court’s subject matter jurisdiction by a
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preponderance of the evidence. See Robinson v. United States, 586 F.3d 683, 685 (9th
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Cir. 2009); see also McCoy v. Colvin, No. CV-15-003344-PHX-DGC, 2016 WL
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6522806, at *1 (D. Ariz. Nov. 3, 2016).
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ORDER - 3
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In his response to the court’s order, Mr. McDonald states that Mr. Gurson “owns
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and controls various LLCs and corporations, through which he engages in the business of
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the company.” (Id. at 2; see also McDonald Decl. ¶¶ 2-4.) Regarding John Doe LLCs,
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Mr. McDonald states that they “are all single-member LLCs and therefore only citizens
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of Hawaii” (id.; see also McDonald Decl. ¶ 4) and “[a]s single-member LLCs, all John
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Doe LLCs are citizens only of Hawaii because [Mr.] Gurson is a citizen of Hawaii”
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(Resp. to OSC at 2). Mr. McDonald further alleges that “[n]o John Doe Corporation is
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incorporated in Washington” and they all have their principal places of business in
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Hawaii “because [Mr.] Gurson and no one else, provides the direction, control[,] and
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coordination of the corporations from Hawaii.” (Id.; see also McDonald Decl. ¶¶ 3, 5.)
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Based on these contentions and the facts to which he attests in his declaration, Mr.
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McDonald contends that complete diversity exists. (See id. Resp. to OSC at 2-3.)
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The court concludes that Mr. McDonald insufficiently demonstrates the court’s
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subject matter jurisdiction. Specifically, for Mr. McDonald’s contentions regarding the
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domicile of John Doe LLCs to demonstrate the court’s subject matter jurisdiction, the
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court would have to infer that Mr. Gurson—a citizen of Hawaii—is the sole member of
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John Doe LLCs. See Johnson, 437 F.3d at 899. However, Mr. McDonald’s response and
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declaration contain insufficient facts for the court to make that inference. (See generally
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Resp. to OSC (failing to state that Mr. Gurson is the sole member of any of John Doe
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LLCs); McDonald Decl. (same).) Although the court could reasonably infer from Mr.
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McDonald’s allegations that Mr. Gurson is the sole member of John Doe LLCs, the court
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could equally plausibly infer that Mr. Gurson is a manager of John Doe LLCs.
ORDER - 4
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In addition, although Mr. McDonald contends that none of John Doe Corporations
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are incorporated in Washington, it is not clear that Hawaii is the principal place of
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business for John Doe Corporations simply because Mr. Gurson controls the corporations
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from Hawaii. (See Resp. to OSC at 2); 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). A corporation’s principal
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place of business is “the place where a corporation’s officers direct, control, and
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coordinate the corporation’s activities,” Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77, 92-93
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(2010), but Mr. McDonald’s response and declaration contain no facts showing that Mr.
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Gurson is an officer of any of the John Doe Corporations (see generally Resp. to OSC;
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McDonald Decl. ¶ 2 (stating only that Mr. Gurson formed another corporation)). For
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these reasons, Mr. McDonald fails to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence
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that there is complete diversity between Mr. McDonald and all defendants. See McCoy,
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2016 WL 6522806, at *1. Because Mr. McDonald fails to establish the court’s subject
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matter jurisdiction, the court dismisses this case without prejudice.
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III.
CONCLUSION
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For the foregoing reasons, the court DISMISSES this matter without prejudice.
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Dated this 8th day of May, 2017.
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A
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JAMES L. ROBART
United States District Judge
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ORDER - 5
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