Anthony Villa, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated v. C&W Facility Services, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield Western, Inc.; and Does 1 through 100, inclusive

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedApril 8, 2026
Docket5:25-cv-10646
StatusUnknown

This text of Anthony Villa, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated v. C&W Facility Services, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield Western, Inc.; and Does 1 through 100, inclusive (Anthony Villa, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated v. C&W Facility Services, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield Western, Inc.; and Does 1 through 100, inclusive) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anthony Villa, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated v. C&W Facility Services, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield Western, Inc.; and Does 1 through 100, inclusive, (N.D. Cal. 2026).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 ANTHONY VILLA, on behalf of himself Case No. 25-cv-10646-NW and others similarly situated, 8 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 9 REMAND v. 10 Re: ECF No. 16 C&W FACILITY SERVICES, INC.; 11 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD U.S., INC.; CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD OF 12 CALIFORNIA, INC.; CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD WESTERN, INC., and 13 DOES 1 through 100, inclusive, Defendants. 14 15 16 On October 31, 2025, Plaintiff Anthony Villa (“Villa” or “Plaintiff”) filed a putative class 17 action complaint in San Benito County Superior Court against Defendants C&W Facility Services, 18 Inc., Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc., Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc., and Cushman & 19 Wakefield Western, Inc., as well as 100 Doe Defendants (collectively, “C&W” or “Defendants”). 20 Defendants removed the case to this District on December 12, 2025. Notice of Removal, ECF No. 21 1. 22 Before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to remand the action to state court. Mot. to Remand, 23 ECF No. 16. Defendants opposed, and Plaintiff filed a reply. Opp’n, ECF No. 20; Reply, ECF 24 No. 21. Having considered the parties’ briefs and the relevant legal authority, the Court concluded 25 that oral argument was not required, see N.D. Cal. Civ. L.R. 7-1(b) and vacated the hearing. ECF 26 No. 26. The Court DENIES Plaintiff’s motion to remand. 27 1 I. BACKGROUND 2 Villa has been employed by C&W, a commercial real estate firm, since June 16, 2025. 3 Compl. ¶ 4, ECF No. 1-1. On October 31, 2025, Villa filed this wage and hour class action on 4 behalf of a putative class of “current, former, and/or future employees of Defendants as direct 5 employees as well as temporary employees employed through temp agencies who work as hourly 6 non-exempt employees.” Id. ¶ 3. Villa filed his complaint in San Benito County Superior Court. 7 See Compl. ¶ 2; ECF No. 1 at 1. 8 The complaint asserts six causes of action: (1) failure to pay minimum wages in violation 9 of California Labor Code §§ 1194, 1197, 1197.1; (2) failure to pay overtime wages in violation of 10 Labor Code §§ 510, 1198; (3) failure to provide meal periods and pay meal period premiums in 11 violation of Labor Code §§ 226.7, 512(a); (4) failure to provide rest periods and pay rest period 12 premiums in violation of Labor Code §§ 226.7, 512(a); (5) failure to reimburse required business 13 expenses in violation of Labor Code § 2802; and (6) violation of California Business & 14 Professions Code §§ 17200, et seq. See generally Compl. 15 The complaint was served on Defendants on November 17, 2025. ECF No. 1 at 1. On 16 December 12, 2025, Defendant removed the case to federal court pursuant to the Class Action 17 Fairness Act (“CAFA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332(d), 1441(b), and 1446, asserting that there are more 18 than 100 proposed class members, the minimum diversity exists, and the amount in controversy is 19 more than $5,000,000. Id. at 1. Plaintiff now moves to remand this case to state court for lack of 20 subject matter jurisdiction under CAFA. ECF No. 16. 21 II. LEGAL STANDARD 22 A defendant may remove a case from state court to federal court only if the federal court 23 would have originally had subject matter jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a); see Caterpillar Inc. v. 24 Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392 (1987) (“Only state-court actions that originally could have been filed 25 in federal court may be removed to federal court by the defendant.”). “If at any time before final 26 judgment it appears that the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the case shall be 27 remanded.” 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). 1 CAFA gives federal courts jurisdiction over class actions where (1) there are at least 100 2 class members, (2) at least one plaintiff is diverse in citizenship from any defendant, and (3) the 3 amount in controversy exceeds $5,000,000. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2), (d)(5)(B); see Ibarra v. 4 Manheim Invs., Inc., 775 F.3d 1193, 1195 (9th Cir. 2015). The removing party bears the burden 5 of establishing that CAFA’s jurisdictional requirements have been met. Abrego Abrego v. The 6 Dow Chem. Co., 443 F.3d 676, 683–685 (9th Cir. 2006); Serrano v. 180 Connect, Inc., 478 F.3d 7 1018, 1021–22 (9th Cir. 2007). 8 The removing party must file a notice of removal that contains a short and plain statement 9 of the grounds for removal, 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a), including a “plausible allegation that the amount 10 in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional threshold.” De Vega v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 507 F. 11 Supp. 3d 1214, 1216 (N.D. Cal. 2019) (quoting Ibarra, 775 F.3d at 1197). In determining the 12 amount in controversy, courts first look to the allegations in the complaint. Ibarra, 775 F.3d at 13 1197. If the complaint does not state the amount in controversy, the defendant’s notice of removal 14 may do so. Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co., LLC v. Owens, 574 U.S. 81, 84 (2014). If the 15 amount in controversy alleged by the defendant is contested by the plaintiff or questioned by the 16 court, the defendant must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy 17 exceeds the jurisdictional threshold. Id. at 82, 88. “The parties may submit evidence outside the 18 complaint, including affidavits or declarations, or other ‘summary judgment-type evidence 19 relevant to the amount in controversy at the time of removal.’” Ibarra, 775 F.3d at 1197 (quoting 20 Singer v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 116 F.3d 373, 377 (9th Cir. 1997)). Defendants are 21 allowed to make reasonable assumptions when calculating the amount in controversy. Jauregui v. 22 Roadrunner Transportation Servs., Inc., 28 F.4th 989, 993 (9th Cir. 2022). But “[m]ere 23 speculation and conjecture” are insufficient to establish removal jurisdiction. Ibarra, 775 F.3d at 24 1197; see also id. at 1199 (“[A]ssumptions cannot be pulled from thin air but need some 25 reasonable ground underlying them.”); Salazar v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., No. 2:18- 26 CV-05884-SJO-E, 2018 WL 4560683, at *3 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 19, 2018) (“Courts have routinely 27 remanded cases where amount in controversy calculations rely on speculative assumptions 1 WL 4457228, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 6, 2017) (“When the defendant relies on a chain of reasoning 2 that includes assumptions to satisfy its burden of proof, the chain of reasoning and its underlying 3 assumptions must be reasonable, and not constitute mere speculation and conjecture.”). 4 Assumptions can, however, “be ‘founded on the allegations of the complaint’ and do not 5 necessarily need to be supported by evidence.” Perez v. Rose Hills Co., 131 F.4th 804, 808 (9th 6 Cir. 2025) (citation omitted). 7 III. DISCUSSION 8 A.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Anthony Villa, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated v. C&W Facility Services, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield Western, Inc.; and Does 1 through 100, inclusive, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anthony-villa-on-behalf-of-himself-and-others-similarly-situated-v-cw-cand-2026.