Opinion
Civil Action No. 1:13-232
08-30-2013
THOMAS SUDDARTH & SON ASPHALT PAVING COMPANY, INC, Plaintiffs, v. DEVELOPERS DIVERSIFIED REALTY CORPORATION a/k/a DDR CORP., BRE DDR ERIE MARKETPLACE, LLC and DDR SOUTHEAST WEST 26th DST, LLC, Defendants. CONTROL BUILDING SERVICES, INC.; CONTROL EQUITY GROUP, INC.; EDWARD TUREN, individually and NEAL TUREN, individually, Additional Defendants.
MEMORANDUM ORDER
AND NOW, this 30th day of August, 2013, upon consideration Defendants' Motion to Remand, [12], Plaintiffs' Motion to Remand [20], all related briefing [13], [15], [21], and in light of Third Circuit precedent that holds "it is settled that the removal statutes are to be strictly construed against removal," Steel Valley Authority v. Union Switch and Signal Division, et al., 809 F. 2d 1006, 1010 (3d Cir. 1987),
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT said Motions to Remand [12] and [20] are GRANTED. In so holding the Court notes the following. This is a business dispute for breach of contract and fraud stemming from a construction company located in Erie, Pennsylvania. (Docket No. 1). Plaintiffs filed suit against Defendants in June 2013 in the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County. (Id.). Defendants filed a Complaint to Join Additional Defendants on June 20, 2013 for indemnification based on a Guaranty Agreement. (Id.). On July 30, 2013, the Additional Defendants removed this case to federal court under 28 U.S.C. §§1452(a) and 1334(b), claiming that the case was "related to" a bankruptcy proceeding on the basis that one of the Additional Defendants' affiliated subsidiaries "Oxford," which is not a party to this litigation, is in Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey. (Id.). The fact that a defendant may seek indemnity from a bankruptcy estate does not necessarily make a proceeding "related to" a bankruptcy. Pacor v. Higgins, 743 F.2d 984, 994 (3d Cir. 1984), overruled on other grounds; see also In re W.R. Grace & Co., 591 F.3d 164 (3d Cir. 2009); Steel Workers Pension Trust v. Citigroup, Inc., 295 B.R. 747 (E.D. Pa. 2003). Considering all the facts of the matter as pled in the Plaintiffs' Complaint (Docket No. 1 at 1), the Defendants' Complaint to Join Additional Defendants, (Id.), Additional Defendants' Notice of Removal, (Docket No. 1), and in light of the legal standard that "all doubts should be resolved in favor of remand," Steel Valley Authority, 809 F. 2d at 1010, the Court finds that Additional Defendants' tenuous link to the New Jersey bankruptcy proceeding are insufficient to create jurisdiction in this Court. See Pacor, 743 F.2d 984; In re W.R. Grace, 591 F.3d 164.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this case shall be remanded to the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County, forthwith;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall mail a certified copy of this order to the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County pursuant to 28 U.S.C § 1447(c); and,
FINALLY, IT IS ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall mark this case CLOSED.
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Nora Barry Fischer
U.S. District Judge
cc/ecf: All counsel of record.