Opinion
CAUSE NO. 1:10-CV-13.
January 26, 2010
OPINION AND ORDER
On January 15, 2010, Plaintiff filed suit in this Court based on diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). (Docket # 1.) On January 25, 2010, the Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint (Docket # 4) in response to an Opinion and Order from the Court (Docket # 3) directing it to correct several deficiencies in its diversity jurisdiction allegations. The Amended Complaint, however, remains defective and inadequately sets forth the citizenship of Defendant Vornado Air, LLC.
Plaintiff's amended complaint alleges that "Defendant Vornado is a Limited Liability Company organized under the laws of Delaware. It possesses a principal place of business in Andover, Kansas. As such, Vornado is a citizen of Kansas and Delaware." (Am. Compl. 1.) These jurisdictional allegations remain insufficient.
A limited liability company's citizenship "for purposes of . . . diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its members." Camico Mut. Ins. Co. v. Citizens Bank, 474 F.3d 989, 992 (7th Cir. 2007); Wise v. Wachovia Securities, LLC, 450 F.3d 265, 267 (7th Cir. 2006); Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998). The Plaintiff's statement that Vornado Air, LLC is organized under the laws of Delaware and has a principal place of business in Kansas "is meaningless because the citizenship of a limited liability company is that of each of its members." MasterSpas, Inc. v. Master Pools Spas, LLC, No. 1:08-cv-74, 2008 WL 2705177, at *1 (N.D. Ind. July 8, 2008) (citing Wise, 450 F.3d at 267 (7th Cir. 2006); Hicklin Engineering, L.C. v. Bartell, 439 F.3d 346, 347 (7th Cir. 2006); Hart v. Terminex Int'l, 336 F.3d 541, 543 (7th Cir. 2003)).
Therefore, the Court must be advised of the citizenship of each member of Vornado Air, LLC to ensure that none of its members share a common citizenship with the Plaintiff. See Hicklin, 439 F.3d at 347. Moreover, citizenship must be "traced through multiple levels" for those members of Vornado Air, LLC who are themselves a partnership or a limited liability company, as anything less can result in a dismissal for want of jurisdiction. Mut. Assignment Indem. Co. v. Lind-Waldock Co., LLC, 364 F.3d 858, 861 (7th Cir. 2004); Belleville Catering Co. v. Champaign Market Place, LLC, 350 F.3d 691, 692 (7th Cir. 2003).
Therefore, the Plaintiff is ORDERED to file a second amended complaint forthwith, properly alleging the citizenship of Defendant Vornado Air, LLC. Failure to sufficiently establish diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) will result in dismissal of the complaint.
SO ORDERED.