Opinion
3:18-cv-00101-RCJ-WGC
04-24-2018
TEACHERS INSURANCE AND ANNUITY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. BENSON MATTHEWS, Defendant.
ORDER
This case arises out of an alleged breach of a non-compete agreement. Pending before the Court are a motion for a preliminary injunction, a motion to dismiss, and a motion to stay. Before the Court addresses those motions, however, it will require Plaintiff to make a more definite statement of subject matter jurisdiction. Defendant's motion to dismiss is based on the amount in controversy, but Plaintiff has since amended to cure that defect. (See Am. Compl. ¶ 5, ECF No. 21). The Court is more concerned with diversity of citizenship. Plaintiff Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America ("TIAA") alleges that Defendant is a citizen of Nevada and that TIAA is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New York, making it a citizen of those states for the purposes of diversity. But the Delaware Division of Corporations does not indicate any entity called "Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America." See https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx. It lists "Teachers Insurance Company" and "Teachers Investment Annuity Association, Inc.," as well as many entities with variations of the name "TIAA," but most of the latter entities are limited liability companies or partnerships, see id., whose citizenships are not controlled by their places of incorporation or principal places of business, but rather by the citizenships of their members or partners, see Johnson v. Colombia Props. Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006).
CONCLUSION
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff shall have twenty-one (21) days make a more definite statement as to its citizenship. Plaintiff must identify its exact name as registered with the Delaware Division of Corporations, and if it is in fact a limited liability company or partnership, it must identify and allege the citizenships of its members or partners. If any of those members or partners are themselves limited liability companies or partnerships, Plaintiff must list those entities' members or partners, etc.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 11) and the Motion to Stay (ECF No. 12) are DENIED as moot. The May 22, 2018 hearing on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 3) shall proceed as scheduled unless Plaintiff fails to make a showing of diversity, in which case the Court will dismiss the case via separate order.
IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated this 24th day of April, 2018.
/s/_________
ROBERT C. JONES
United States District Judge