Opinion
CAUSE NO.: 2:16-CV-536-RL-PRC
01-30-2018
SAGE-POPOVICH, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. CHARLES BETHELL, et al., Defendants.
OPINION AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court sua sponte. The Court must continuously police its subject matter jurisdiction. Hay v. Ind. State Bd. of Tax Comm'rs, 312 F.3d 876, 879 (7th Cir. 2002). The Court must dismiss this action if the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). Currently, the Court is unable to determine if it has subject matter jurisdiction over this litigation.
Defendants Charles Bethel and Flamingo Cay Limited invoked this Court's subject matter jurisdiction via diversity jurisdiction by removing this litigation to federal court from state court. Plaintiff Sage-Popovich Inc. then filed an Amended Complaint, in which it added Rodgers Helicopter Services, LLC as Co-Plaintiff. The parties invoking the Court's subject matter jurisdiction have the burden of establishing that subject matter jurisdiction exists. Smart v. Local 702 Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 562 F.3d 798, 802-03 (7th Cir. 2009).
For the Court to have diversity jurisdiction, no plaintiff can be a citizen of the same state as a defendant, and the amount in controversy must be more than $75,000. A sufficient amount in controversy has been alleged. Also, there are sufficient allegations of citizenship for Sage-Popovich, Inc., Charles Bethel, and Defendant David Pearce. However, the allegations are insufficient as to Rodgers Helicopter Services, LLC and Flamingo Cay Limited.
Sage-Popovich, Inc. alleges in the Amended Complaint that Rodgers Helicopter Services, LLC is a Nebraska company with its principal place of business in Nebraska. For limited liability companies (LLCs), the state whose laws under which the LLC was organized and location of the principal place of business are not used to determine citizenship. A limited liability company is analogous to a partnership and takes the citizenship of its members. Belleville Catering Co. v. Champaign Mkt. Place, LLC, 350 F.3d 691, 692 (7th Cir. 2003). If the members of the limited liability company are themselves limited liability companies, the plaintiff must also plead the citizenship of those members as of the date the complaint was filed. Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir. 2007) ("[A]n LLC's jurisdictional statement must identify the citizenship of each of its members as of the date the complaint or notice of removal was filed, and, if those members have members, the citizenship of those members as well."). Because Sage-Popovich, Inc. has sought to extend this Court's jurisdiction over Rodgers Helicopter Services, LLC, Sage-Popovich, Inc. must allege the citizenship of Rodgers Helicopter Services, LLC's members, members of members, and so forth, tracing through all layers of ownership.
Next, in the Notice of Removal, Bethell and Flamingo Cay Limited allege that Flamingo Cay Limited is a "foreign corporation with its principal place of business in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas." If Flamingo Cay Limited is a corporation, then it takes its citizenship from its state or foreign state of incorporation and from the state or foreign state where its principal place of business is located. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). The state or foreign state of incorporation for Flamingo Cay Limited has not been alleged. Further, the inclusion of the word "Limited" in Flamingo Cay Limited raises the question of whether this entity is a limited liability company, limited partnership, or other form of business entity other than a corporation.
Therefore, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff Sage-Popovich, Inc. to FILE, on or before February 8 , 2018 , a supplemental jurisdictional statement that properly alleges the citizenship of Plaintiff Rodgers Helicopter Services, LLC tracing through all layers of ownership, and the Court ORDERS Defendants Charles Bethell and Flamingo Cay Limited to FILE, on or before February 8 , 2018 , a supplemental jurisdictional statement that provides a statement of law regarding what form of business entity Flamingo Cay Limited is and alleges the citizenship of Flamingo Cay Limited according to the proper standard.
SO ORDERED this 30th day of January, 2018.
s/ Paul R. Cherry
MAGISTRATE JUDGE PAUL R. CHERRY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT