Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 16-540-JWD-RLB
11-01-2016
ROSEMARY VARNEY v. HOTARD COACHES, INC., ET AL
ORDER
The court sua sponte notes the potential insufficiency of the plaintiff's allegation of the citizenship of the parties as follows: 1. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must allege the citizenship of an individual. An individual's citizenship is determined by his or her domicile, rather than residence. See Preston v. Tenet Healthsystem Memorial Medical Center, Inc., 485 F.3d 793, 799 (5th Cir. 2007). In addition, see 28 U.S.C. §1332(c)(2), for infants, the deceased and the incompetent. The citizenship of __________ is not provided. 2. X A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must allege both the state of incorporation and principal place of business of each corporate party. See, e.g., Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co . v. Pargas, Inc., 706 F.2d 633 (5th Cir. 1983). The state of incorporation and principal place of business of All Aboard America! Holding, Inc. and Lancer Insurance Company is not provided. In addition, the principal place of business of Hotard Coaches, Inc. is not provided. 3. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must allege both the state of incorporation and principal place of business of each corporate party. See, e.g., Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co . v. Pargas, Inc., 706 F.2d 633 (5th Cir. 1983). Even when a liability insurer takes on its insured's citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1), its own citizenship still is considered in determining whether complete diversity exists. The state of incorporation and principal place of business of __________ is not provided. 4. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of a limited liability company. The citizenship of a limited liability company for diversity purposes is determined by the citizenship of its members. The citizenship of all of the members of a limited liability company must be properly alleged. In the event a member of a limited liability company is another limited liability company, the members of that limited liability company must be properly alleged as well. See Harvey v . Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077, 1080 (5 th Cir. 2008). The complete citizenship of __________ is not provided. 5. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of a general partnership, a limited liability partnership, and a limited partnership. A general partnership, a limited liability partnership, and a limited partnership has the citizenship of each one of its partners. Both the general partner and limited partner must be alleged to establish citizenship of a limited partnership. See International Paper Co . v. Denkmann Assoc., 116 F.3d 134, 137 (5th Cir. 1997) ; Carden v . Arkoma Associates, 494 U.S. 185 (1990). The citizenship of __________ is not provided. 6. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of Underwriters at Lloyd's, London. The citizenship of Underwriters at Lloyd's, London has not been provided. See Corfield v . Dallas Glen Hills LP, 355 F.3d 853 (5th Cir. 2003). 7. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of a sole proprietorship. A business entity cannot be both a corporation and sole proprietorship; therefore the court seeks to clarify the identity of plaintiff/defendant. Case law suggests that the citizenship of a sole proprietorship for diversity purposes is determined by the citizenship of its members and/or owners. See Linder Enterprises v . Martinringle, No. 07-1733, 2007 WL 3095382 (N.D. Tex., Oct. 22, 2007). The citizenship of __________ is not provided.
The phrase "principal place of business" in §1332(c)(1) refers to the place where a corporation's high level officers direct, control, and coordinate the corporation's activities, i.e., its "nerve center," which will typically be found at its corporate headquarters. Hertz Corp . v. Friend, 130 S.Ct. 1181, 175 L.Ed.2d 1029 (2010)
See footnote 1. --------
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1653, that, on or before November 14, 2016, the plaintiff shall file an amended complaint providing the citizenship of defendants Hotard Coaches, Inc., All Aboard America! Holding, Inc. and Lancer Insurance Company, by setting forth all citizenship particulars required to sustain federal diversity jurisdiction.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on November 1, 2016.
/s/ _________
RICHARD L. BOURGEOIS, JR.
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE