Opinion
No. 1:14 CV 406
07-15-2015
VITALIY KURNOSKIN, Plaintiff, v. REINHART TRANSPORTATION LLC, et al., Defendants.
OPINION and ORDER
Plaintiff Vitaliy Kurnoskin, a resident of Florida, filed the present lawsuit based on diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). (DE # 1.) Defendant Reinhart Transportation LLC, has moved to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2). (DE # 20.) Rule 12(b)(2) requires dismissal of a claim where personal jurisdiction is lacking. After a defendant moves to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(2), "the plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating the existence of jurisdiction." Purdue Research Found. v. Sanofi-Synthelabo, S.A., 338 F.3d 773, 782 (7th Cir. 2003).
Section 1332(a)(1) requires diversity of citizenship - that is, all plaintiffs in this lawsuit must be citizens of different states than all of the defendants. For limited liability companies like defendant Reinhart Transportation LLC, citizenship "for purposes of . . . diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its members." Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998). Further, citizenship of an LLC "may need to be traced through multiple levels if any of its members is itself a partnership or LLC." Mut. Assign. & Indemn. Co. v. Lind-Waldock & Co., LLC, 364 F.3d 858, 861 (7th Cir. 2004).
Defendant Reinhart Transportation LLC has informed the court that its only member is Reinhart Foodservice, LLC, which in turn has three individual members. (DE # 20.) Two of these members are Florida residents, like plaintiff. (Id.) The time for plaintiff to respond to Reinhart's motion has passed, and plaintiff has not attempted to demonstrate the existence of jurisdiction.
Accordingly, defendant Reinhart Transportation LLC's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction (DE # 20) is GRANTED.
SO ORDERED.
Date: July 15, 2015
s/ James T. Moody
JUDGE JAMES T. MOODY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT