Markham v. Cash & Carry Stores, LLC et al

Filing 6

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE directing Defendant Cash & Carry to show cause within 10 days why this matter should not be remanded to state court re subject matter jurisdiction. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (PM)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 9 10 DEBORAH MARKHAM, Plaintiff, 11 CASE NO. C17-0746JLR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE v. 12 13 CASH & CARRY STORES, LLC, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 The court has reviewed Defendant Cash & Carry Stores, LLC’s notice of removal 16 (Not. (Dkt. # 1)) and finds that it does not adequately establish subject matter jurisdiction 17 over this action. Specifically, Cash & Carry fails to show complete diversity or the 18 requisite amount in controversy. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). 19 Cash & Carry asserts that the court’s jurisdiction is based on diversity of 20 citizenship. (Not. at 2.) For purposes of assessing diversity, the court must consider the 21 domicile of all members of a limited liability company. Johnson v. Columbia Props. 22 ORDER - 1 1 Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006) (“[A]n LLC is a citizen of every state 2 of which its owners/members are citizens.”); see also Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 3 101(e). Plaintiff Deborah Markham alleges that she is a Washington resident. (Compl. 4 (Dkt. # 2) ¶ 1.2.) However, neither the complaint nor the notice of removal identifies 5 Cash & Carry’s members or the domicile of those members. (See id. ¶ 1.3 (alleging that 6 Cash & Carry is “a limited liability corporation formed under the laws of the State of 7 Washington”); Not. at 2.) 8 9 Furthermore, Cash & Carry’s corporate disclosure statement fails to establish Cash & Carry’s domicile. (CDS (Dkt. # 4).) Cash & Carry alleges that it is a wholly owned 10 subsidiary of Smart & Final Stores, LLC (id. ¶ 3), which makes Cash & Carry’s domicile 11 the same as Smart & Final’s domicile, see Johnson, 437 F.3d at 899. Because Smart & 12 Final is also an LLC, it too shares a domicile with each of its members. See Johnson, 437 13 F.3d at 899. However, Cash & Carry alleges only that Smart & Final “is a California 14 [LLC] with its principal place of business in Commerce, California.” (CDS ¶ 4.) 15 Without knowing Smart & Final’s members and their domiciles, the court cannot 16 determine Cash & Carry’s domicile. See Johnson, 437 F.3d at 899. 17 In addition, Cash & Carry’s conclusory assertion that the amount in controversy 18 exceeds $75,000.00 is insufficient. (See Not. at 2 (asserting that the amount in 19 controversy meets the jurisdictional threshold “pursuant to Plaintiff’s Statement of 20 Damages and 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)”).) Ms. Markham’s statement of damages is not in the 21 record. (See Dkt.; see also Not. at 2); RCW 4.28.360. Furthermore, although Ms. 22 Markham’s complaint alleges several injuries, some of which are severe, it is not facially ORDER - 2 1 apparent that her damages exceed $75,000.00. (Compl. ¶¶ 5.1-5.6.) “Where . . . it is 2 unclear or ambiguous from the face of a state-court complaint whether the requisite 3 amount in controversy is pled, . . . the removing defendant bears the burden of 4 establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the amount in controversy exceeds 5 the jurisdictional threshold.” Urbino v. Orkin Servs. of Cal., Inc., 726 F.3d 1118, 6 1121-22 (9th Cir. 2013) (internal citations and quotations omitted). Cash & Carry’s 7 conclusory statement, unsupported by factual evidence, does not meet its burden of 8 establishing the requisite amount in controversy by a preponderance of the evidence. See 9 id.; Matheson v. Progressive Specialty Ins. Co., 319 F.3d 1089, 1090-91 (9th Cir. 2003) 10 (“Where doubt regarding the right to removal exists, a case should be remanded to state 11 court. . . . [W]e have endorsed the . . . practice of considering facts presented in the 12 removal petition as well as any summary-judgement-type evidence relevant to the 13 amount in controversy at the time of removal. Conclusory allegations as to the amount in 14 controversy are insufficient.” (internal quotations omitted)). 15 If subject matter jurisdiction is lacking, the court must remand. 28 U.S.C. 16 § 1447(c) (“If at any time before final judgment it appears that the district court lacks 17 subject matter jurisdiction, the case shall be remanded.”). Accordingly, the court 18 ORDERS Cash & Carry to SHOW CAUSE why this matter should not be remanded to 19 state court by providing evidence demonstrating the court’s subject matter jurisdiction 20 // 21 // 22 // ORDER - 3 1 within ten (10) days of the date of this order. Ms. Markham may, but is not required to, 2 respond to this order subject to the same deadline. 3 Dated this 23rd day of May, 2017. 4 5 A 6 JAMES L. ROBART United States District Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ORDER - 4

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