Casey v. Goulian

273 F. Supp. 2d 136, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12937, 2003 WL 21742270
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJuly 21, 2003
DocketNo. CIV.A.03-11042-PBS
StatusPublished

This text of 273 F. Supp. 2d 136 (Casey v. Goulian) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Casey v. Goulian, 273 F. Supp. 2d 136, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12937, 2003 WL 21742270 (D. Mass. 2003).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SARIS, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs bring state-law nuisance claims, alleging that defendants are involved in noisy and dangerous stunt-airplane flights over their homes. Defendants removed this suit from state court on the ground that plaintiffs’ claims fall within this Court’s federal-question jurisdiction. The Court holds it lacks jurisdiction over this suit, and ALLOWS plaintiffs’ motion for remand.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard for Removal

A party seeking to remove a case to federal court has the burden of demonstrating the existence of federal jurisdiction. See, e.g., BIW Deceived v. Local S6, 132 F.3d 824, 831 (1st Cir.1997). Furthermore, the removal statute should be strictly construed, and any doubts about the propriety of removal should be resolved against the removal of an action. See, e.g., Danca v. Private Health Care Sys., Inc., 185 F.3d 1, 4 (1st Cir.1999).

II. Analysis of Federal-Question Jurisdiction

A state-court suit that includes at least one claim “arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States” can be removed to federal court. See 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (2003) (allowing for removal of suits that fall within the federal district courts’ original jurisdiction over federal-question cases); 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (2003) (federal-question statute). “[T]he question whether a claim ‘arises under’ federal law must be determined by reference to the ‘well-pleaded complaint.’ A defense that raises a federal question is inadequate to confer federal jurisdiction.” Merrell Dow Pharm. Inc. v. Thompson, 478 U.S. 804, 808, 106 S.Ct. 3229, 92 L.Ed.2d 650 (1986) (citations omitted); see also Rivet v. Regions Bank of La., 522 U.S. 470, 475, 118 S.Ct. 921, 139 L.Ed.2d 912 (1998) (“[A] case may not be removed to federal court on the basis of a federal defense ... even if the defense is anticipated in the plaintiffs complaint, and even if both parties admit that the defense is the only question truly at issue in the case.”) (citation omitted).

Defendants argue that plaintiffs’ state-law claims fall within the Court’s federal-question jurisdiction, for two reasons. [138]*138First, defendants contend that plaintiffs’ state-law claims necessarily turn on the construction of federal law. See, e.g., City of Chicago v. Int’l Coll. of Surgeons, 522 U.S. 156, 164, 118 S.Ct. 523, 139 L.Ed.2d 525 (1997) (stating that a federal question can arise through a state-law claim “re-quirting] resolution of a substantial question of federal law”) (quoting Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Constr. Laborers Vacation Trust for Southern Cal., 463 U.S. 1, 13, 103 S.Ct. 2841, 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983)). Defendants maintain that plaintiffs’ claims turn on federal aviation standards, in particular those set out in the Federal Aviation Act (“FAA”), 49 U.S.C. §§ 40101 et seq. (2003), and its enabling regulations applicable to aircraft flight and noise.

But the complaint itself does not contain any reference to the FAA or any other federal law. Even if FAA statutory or regulatory standards did provide a required element of plaintiffs’ state-law claims, defendants have failed to demonstrate that the FAA provides a private cause of action to enforce these standards. Under the weight of the caselaw, federal jurisdiction is not available absent such a showing. See Merrell Dow, 478 U.S. at 817, 106 S.Ct. 3229 (“We conclude that a complaint alleging a violation of a federal statute as an element of a state cause of action, when Congress has determined that there should be no private, federal cause of action for the violation, does not state a claim ‘arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.’ ”) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1331); PCS 2000 LP v. Romulus Telecomms., Inc., 148 F.3d 32, 35 (1st Cir.1998) (“Unless a federal statute bestows a private right of action, courts ought to presume that Congress did not intend the statute to confer federal jurisdiction.”); State of Montana v. Abbot Labs., 2003 WL 21356449 at *5 (D.Mass. June 11, 2003) (collecting cases interpreting Merrell Dow)', see also Vorhees v. Naper Aero Club, Inc., 272 F.3d 398, 404 (7th Cir.2001) (noting that the FAA “has no civil enforcement provision or any provision allowing a private resident to sue for the property torts of an airline pilot or airport operator”). But see Tipp City v. Dayton, 204 F.R.D. 388, 395-96 (S.D.Ohio 2001) (finding, without the benefit of briefing, federal-question jurisdiction where plaintiffs’ state-law nuisance claim based on airplane noise alleged that defendants had failed to comply with Federal Aviation Administration “Tower Orders”).

Second, defendants contend that federal aviation law “completely preempts” plaintiffs’ claims. See, e.g., Rivet, 522 U.S. at 476, 118 S.Ct. 921 (“Although federal preemption is normally a defense, ‘[o]nce an area of state law has been completely pre-empted, any claim purportedly based on that pre-empted state-law claim is considered, from its inception, a federal claim, and therefore arises under federal law.’ ”) (quoting Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 393, 107 S.Ct. 2425, 96 L.Ed.2d 318 (1987)). Defendants argue that plaintiffs’ claims seek to use state law to regulate the airspace over their homes, in contravention of the FAA, which expressly provides that “[t]he United States Government has exclusive sovereignty of airspace of the United States.” 49 U.S.C. § 40103(a); see also Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal Inc., 411 U.S. 624, 625-40, 93 S.Ct. 1854, 36 L.Ed.2d 547 (1973) (finding federal preemption of a city ordinance imposing a curfew on jet-aircraft flights, given the “pervasive nature of the scheme of federal regulation of aircraft noise”; not addressing complete preemption).

But the Court is persuaded by the Seventh Circuit’s recent rejection of a similar complete-preemption argument in See Vorhees v. Naper Aero Club, Inc. 272 F.3d at 400-05. In Vorhees, the plaintiff owned property adjacent to an airport. Id. at 400.

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Related

City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc.
411 U.S. 624 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams
482 U.S. 386 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Rivet v. Regions Bank of Louisiana
522 U.S. 470 (Supreme Court, 1998)
PCS 2000 LP v. Romulus Telecommunications, Inc.
148 F.3d 32 (First Circuit, 1998)
Danca v. Private Health Care Systems, Inc.
185 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 1999)
Lawrence C. Bieneman v. City of Chicago
864 F.2d 463 (Seventh Circuit, 1988)
Kingsley v. Lania
221 F. Supp. 2d 93 (D. Massachusetts, 2002)
Montana v. Abbot Laboratories
266 F. Supp. 2d 250 (D. Massachusetts, 2003)
City of Tipp City v. City of Dayton
204 F.R.D. 388 (S.D. Ohio, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
273 F. Supp. 2d 136, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12937, 2003 WL 21742270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/casey-v-goulian-mad-2003.