Best Western International Incorporated v. OP Hotel LLC

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Best Western International Incorporated, No. CV-23-01166-PHX-JAT

10 Plaintiff, ORDER

11 v.

12 OP Hotel LLC, et al.,

13 Defendants. 14 15 “Inquiring whether the court has jurisdiction is a federal judge’s first duty in every 16 case.” Belleville Catering Co. v. Champaign Market Place, L.L.C., 350 F.3d 691, 693 (7th 17 Cir. 2003). In this case, the jurisdictional allegations for all Defendants are made on 18 “information and belief.” Specifically, the complaint alleges: “[u]pon information and 19 belief, the members of OP Hotel are residents of Syosset, New York; Chantilly, Virginia; 20 Olathe, Kansas; and Lenexa, Kansas”, “[u]pon information and belief Nedunilam is a 21 resident of Syosset, New York; Olathe, Kansas; or Lenexa, Kansas”, and “Defendant Jane 22 Doe Nedunilam is Defendant Nedunilam’s spouse and upon information and belief, is also 23 a resident of Syosset, New York; Olathe, Kansas; or Lenexa, Kansas.” (Doc. 1 at 1-2). 24 While alleging jurisdiction on information and belief is permissible at the pleading 25 stage in this circuit, the Court may require that jurisdiction be established after allowing 26 discovery. Carolina Cas. Ins. Co. v. Team Equip., Inc., 741 F.3d 1082, 1088 (9th Cir. 27 2014). Accordingly, the Court will require Plaintiff to take discovery and by the deadline 28 set forth below, file a jurisdictional supplement that proves: 1) the members of the limited liability company on the date the complaint was filed; 2) the citizenship of each of the || members of the limited liability company on the date the complaint was filed; and 3) the 3 || citizenship of each of the individual defendants on the date the complaint was filed. See 4|| Johnson yv. Columbia Properties Anchorage, L.P., 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006); || NewGen, LLC v. Safe Cig, LLC, 840 F.3d 606, 611 (9th Cir. 2016); Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas 6|| Global Group, L.P., 541 U.S. 567, 570-71 (2004). 7 Accordingly, 8 IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff must file a jurisdictional supplement by December 9|| 22, 2023, establishing federal subject matter jurisdiction. 10 Dated this 17th day of July, 2023. 11 12 A 13 James A. Teilborg 14 Senior United States District Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

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