Cella v. Togum Constructeur Ensemleier en Industrie Alimentaire

173 F.3d 909
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedApril 1, 1999
Docket98-1393
StatusUnknown
Cited by1 cases

This text of 173 F.3d 909 (Cella v. Togum Constructeur Ensemleier en Industrie Alimentaire) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cella v. Togum Constructeur Ensemleier en Industrie Alimentaire, 173 F.3d 909 (3d Cir. 1999).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

STAPLETON, Circuit Judge:

This appeal stems from the consolidation of two actions filed in federal district court by the same plaintiffs — one in which diversity jurisdiction existed and one in which federal subject matter jurisdiction was lacking — and the subsequent dismissal of both actions for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. As an initial matter, we must determine whether a defendant in the diversity action has standing to appeal the dismissal of the suit against it. Because we hold that standing exists, we review the District Court’s order dismissing the suit against the defendant and we will reverse that order.

I.

Patricia Celia was injured by a ball-forming machine while working on February 21, 1996. On August 8, 1997, she and her husband (“the Celias”) filed suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against To-gum Construction, Robert Bosch Corporation, Miltenberg & Santom, Inc., and Wiener, USA. In this action (“the first action”), the Celias asserted state law claims including negligence, strict liability, breach of warranties of merchantability and fitness, and loss of consortium. Subject matter jurisdiction was appropriately predicated upon the complete diversity of the parties. On February 20, 1998, the Celias filed a second action (“the second action”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania arising out of the same accident, but instead naming as defendants AMCO Customs Brokerage, Robert E. Kehle, Elizabeth Lancaster, and Edward J. Strycharz. Although the complaint alleged that diversity jurisdiction existed in the second action as well, it was apparent from the face of the complaint that the Celias and the defendant AMCO were Pennsylvania citizens.

On March 16, 1998, the Celias moved to consolidate the second action with the first action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42 and to have the District Court exercise its supplemental jurisdiction over the second action or, alternatively, “remand” the consolidated actions to state court. The District Court declined to exercise jurisdiction over the second action since it determined that to do so would be inconsistent with the jurisdictional requirement of Section 1332. However, in an order dated April 14, 1998, the District Court consolidated the two actions and dismissed them without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Upon dismissal, the consolidated cases proceeded in state court. Because Pennsylvania has a two-year statute of limitations for actions to recover damages for [911]*911personal injury, see 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524, the Celias could not have initiated a new, identical state court action on March 6, 1998, the date on which the Celias filed their motion to consolidate and “remand” or dismiss. However, the Celias were able to proceed in state court by operation of 42 Pa.C.S. § 5103, entitled “Transfer of erroneously filed matters.” Section 5103 provides in pertinent part:

(1) ... In order to preserve a claim under Chapter 55 (relating to limitation of time), a litigant who timely commences an action or proceeding in any United States court for a district embracing any part of this Commonwealth is not required to commence a protective action in a court or before a district justice of this Commonwealth. Where a matter is filed in any United States court for a district embracing any part of this Commonwealth and the matter is dismissed by the United States court for lack of jurisdiction, any litigant in the matter filed may transfer the matter to a court or magisterial district of this Commonwealth by complying with the transfer provisions set forth in paragraph (2).
(2) Except as otherwise prescribed by general rules, or by order of the United States court, such transfer may be effected by filing a certified transcript of the final judgment of the United States court and the related pleadings in a court or magisterial district of this Commonwealth.

See 42 Pa.C.S. § 5103(b)(1) and (2) (emphasis added).

On this appeal, the Robert Bosch Corporation (“Bosch”), a defendant named in the first action, seeks to challenge the District Court’s dismissal of the suit against it for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

II.

Our threshold inquiry is whether Bosch has standing to appeal the dismissal of the federal suit against it. The Supreme Court has enunciated a three-part test to determine when a litigant has “standing” to invoke the power of a federal court. The party must allege (1) an injury in fact, (2) that is “fairly traceable” to the challenged action, and (3) that will be redressed by a favorable decision. See Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 751, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984). The Supreme Court has noted the following policy regarding standing to appeal:

Ordinarily, only a party aggrieved by a judgment or order of a district court may exercise the statutory right to appeal therefrom. A party who receives all that he has sought generally is not aggrieved by the judgment affording the relief and cannot appeal from it.

Deposit Guaranty Nat. Bank v. Roper, 445 U.S. 326, 333, 100 S.Ct. 1166, 63 L.Ed.2d 427 (1980).

In this case, it appears at first glance that Bosch is not “aggrieved” by the order of the District Court, as that order dismisses the action against it. The corporation has in a sense received “all that Lit] has sought” because it is no longer required to defend the case and is therefore no longer potentially subject to liability. However, this “first glance” analysis ignores the fact that the corporation is not now completely free from suit but rather is required to defend this suit in state rather than federal court. While injury in fact typically denotes a substantive harm, the Supreme Court has recognized “procedural injury” related to a change in forum in at least one instance. See International Primate Protection League v. Administrators of Tulane Educational Fund, 500 U.S. 72, 111 S.Ct. 1700, 114 L.Ed.2d 134 (1991) (holding that plaintiff had standing to challenge defendant’s removal of their suit since they lost the right to sue in state court, the forum of their choice). While International Primate involved deprivation of a plaintiffs, rather than a defendant’s, legitimate expectation of being able to litigate in a particular forum, it does [912]*912demonstrate that this type of deprivation can be sufficient to render an appellant aggrieved. See also Custer v. Sweeney, 89 F.3d 1156, 1164 (4th Cir.1996) (according “the party aggrieved concept” a practical rather than hypertechnical meaning and noting that “[a] party may be aggrieved by a district court decision that adversely affects its legal rights or position vis-a-vis other parties in the case or other potential litigants”).

In the instant case, Bosch had no legitimate expectation before it was sued that it would be able to litigate the Celias’ claims against it in a federal court.

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173 F.3d 909, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cella-v-togum-constructeur-ensemleier-en-industrie-alimentaire-ca3-1999.