Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:16-CV-415 (MTT)
11-09-2016
CURTIS TOWNS, Plaintiff, v. WALMART STORES, INC., et al., Defendants.
ORDER
In their Proposed Scheduling and Discovery Order Form, the parties jointly move to substitute "Wal-Mart Stores East, LP" for "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc." (Doc. 8, at 9). Wal-Mart Stores East, LP has filed a Corporate Disclosure Statement demonstrating that its limited partners are not located in Georgia, so the joinder of Wal-Mart Stores East, LP does not destroy the Court's diversity jurisdiction. (Doc. 5); see Carden v. Akoma Assocs., 494 U.S. 185, 195 (1990) (requiring a court to consider the citizenship of all partners of limited partnerships in order to determine whether diversity jurisdiction exists); see Underwriters at Lloyd's, London v. Osting-Schwinn, 613 F.3d 1079, 1086 (11th Cir. 2010) ("[U]nincorporated associations do not themselves have any citizenship, but instead must prove the citizenship of each of their members to meet the jurisdictional requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1332."); see Orchid Quay, LLC v. Suncor Bristol Bay, LLC, 2016 WL 1404163, at *3 (S.D. Fla.) ("If a partner or member of an unincorporated association is itself an unincorporated association, the citizenship of unincorporated associations must be traced through however many layers of partners or members there may be." (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)).
Accordingly, this Court hereby ORDERS the substitution of "Wal-Mart Stores East, LP" to replace the Defendant "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc."
SO ORDERED this 9th day of November, 2016.
S/ Marc T. Treadwell
MARC T. TREADWELL, JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT