Guarino v. Armed Forces Insurance Exchange

Full title: MARGUERITE B. GUARINO, ET AL v. ARMED FORCES INSURANCE EXCHANGE

Court: United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana

Date published: Jan 16, 2007

CIVIL ACTION NO: 06-6844, SECTION: "D"(5) (E.D. La. Jan. 16, 2007)

Opinion

CIVIL ACTION NO: 06-6844, SECTION: "D"(5).

January 16, 2007

ORDER AND REASONS

A. McNAMARA, Senior District Judge

Before the court is the "Motion to Remand" filed by Plaintiffs, Marguerite B. Guarino and William Jesse Guarino. No memorandum in opposition was filed. The motion, set for hearing on Wednesday, January 17, 2007, is before the court on Plaintiff's brief, without oral argument. Now, having considered the memorandum of Plaintiffs' counsel, the record, and the applicable law, the court finds the motion should be granted.

In this Katrina-related matter, Plaintiffs initially filed suit in the 25^th Judicial District for the Parish of Plaquemines, State of Louisiana, against their alleged property insurer, Armed Forces Insurance, for its alleged failure to pay the full amount of Plaintiffs' loss. However, in Paragraph IX of their Petition, Plaintiffs alleges that the damages they seek "do not exceed $75,000.00, exclusive of interest and costs."

Defendant, Armed Forces Insurance, removed the matter to this court asserting that the court has diversity jurisdiction. However, while there is no dispute that there is complete diversity of citizenship between Plaintiffs and Defendant, Defendant has not only failed to show that it is facially apparent from Plaintiffs' Petition that Plaintiffs' claim exceeds $75,000, but Defendant has also failed to set forth facts in dispute that support a finding of the requisite amount. Gebbia v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 233 F.3d 880, 882-83 (5^th Cir. 2000).

Further, to resolve any ambiguity regarding the jurisdictional amount that existed at the time of removal, Plaintiffs have now executed a post-removal Affidavit wherein Plaintiffs have further "stipulate [d] that they will not attempt to execute any Judgment obtained in these proceedings in the amount of $75,000.00 or higher." ( See Plaintiffs' post-removal Affidavit attached to Plaintiffs' Memorandum as Exhibit A). Accordingly;

IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiffs' "Motion to Remand" be and is hereby GRANTED, remanding this matter to the 25^th Judicial District for the Parish of Plaquemines, State of Louisiana, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.