Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 14-751 SECTION "N" (3) CIVIL ACTION NO. 14-752 SECTION "N" (3)
07-23-2014
RELATES TO ALL CASES
ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court are: (1) Objections to Magistrate's Order (Rec. Doc. 37) on Plaintiffs' Motions for Leave to Amend Complaint (Rec. Doc. 40), filed by the defendants; and (2) Plaintiff's Motion to Remand (Rec. Doc. 14).
The plaintiffs' motion to remand is made pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(e), on grounds that the joinder of Frederick Clark, a Louisiana resident, destroys the Court's subject matter jurisdiction. No party disputes that Clark's joinder would destroy diversity, the only basis for jurisdiction in this case, thereby requiring remand pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(e). Thus, the merits of the motion to remand hinge strictly on the propriety of the joinder, which is challenged in the defendants' objections to the Magistrate Judge's Order. Having carefully reviewed the Order (Rec. Doc. 37), the defendant's objections, the record, and the applicable law, the Court can find no error in the Magistrate Judge's ruling allowing the joinder. Indeed, the Court agrees that the Magistrate's decision is the correct one. Joinder of the non-diverse defendant being proper, remand is required. See 28 U.S.C. § 1447(e). Accordingly;
IT IS ORDERED that:
(1) The Objections to Magistrate's Order (Rec. Doc. 37) on Plaintiffs' Motions for Leave to Amend Complaint, filed by the defendants (Rec. Doc. 40) are hereby OVERRULED and DENIED;
(2) The Magistrate's Order (Rec. Doc. 37) is hereby AFFIRMED, and the Court adopts it as its opinion;
(3) Plaintiff's Motion to Remand (Rec. Doc. 14) is hereby GRANTED; and
(4) Both consolidated actions (14-cv-751 and 14-cv-752) are hereby REMANDED to the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court for the Parish of Jefferson.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 23rd day of July, 2014.
/s/_________
KURT D. ENGELHARDT
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE