Opinion
CAUSE NO. 1:14-CV-406
01-26-2015
VITALIY KURNOSKIN, Plaintiff, v. REINHART TRANSPORTATION LLC, et al., Defendants.
OPINION AND ORDER
This case was filed in this Court on December 29, 2014, based on diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). (Docket # 1.) Now before the Court is Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint, alleging that Plaintiff Vitaliy Kurnoskin is a citizen of Florida; Defendant Craig A. Riemersma is a citizen of Illinois; and that "[a]ll of the partners" of Reinhart Transportation, LLC, "are citizens of Wisconsin." (Pl.'s First Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1-3.)
But the jurisdictional allegations of Defendant Reinhart Transportation, LLC, are deficient. As the party seeking to invoke federal diversity jurisdiction, Plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that the requirement of complete diversity has been met. Chase v. Shop'n Save Warehouse Foods, Inc., 110 F.3d 424, 427 (7th Cir. 1997). Anything less can result in a dismissal or remand for want of jurisdiction. Mut. Assignment & Indem. Co. v. Lind-Waldock & Co., LLC, 364 F.3d 858, 861 (7th Cir. 2004). Plaintiff cannot, as he attempts to do here, merely allege a "naked declaration that there is diversity of citizenship" with respect to the members of Defendant Reinhart Transportation, LLC. Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 533 (7th Cir. 2007).
As explained in this Court's Order dated January 5, 2015 (Docket # 4), a limited liability company's citizenship "for purposes of . . . diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its members." Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998). Thus, the Court must be advised of the identity of each member of Reinhart Transportation, LLC, together with such member's citizenship. Hicklin Eng'g, L.C. v. Bartell, 439 F.3d 346, 347 (7th Cir. 2006); see generally Guar. Nat'l Title Co. v. J.E.G. Assocs., 101 F.3d 57, 59 (7th Cir. 1996) (explaining that the court would "need to know the name and citizenship(s)" of each partner for diversity jurisdiction purposes).
Therefore, Plaintiff is ORDERED to supplement the record on or before February 9, 2015, with the identity and citizenship of each member of Defendant Reinhart Transportation, LLC.
SO ORDERED.
Enter for this 26th day of January 2015.
/s Susan Collins
Susan Collins,
United States Magistrate Judge