CLARK v. FAMILY DOLLAR STORES OF INDIANA, LLC

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

DEBORAH CLARK, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 1:20-cv-01569-JPH-MPB ) FAMILY DOLLAR STORES OF INDIANA, ) LLC, ) STRENGTH OF NATURE, LLC, ) ) Defendants. ) ) ) FAMILY DOLLAR STORES OF INDIANA, ) LLC, ) ) Cross Claimant, ) ) v. ) ) STRENGTH OF NATURE, LLC, ) ) Cross Defendant. )

ORDER ON JURISDICTION Plaintiff, Deborah Clark, has filed a First Amended Complaint alleging that this Court has diversity jurisdiction over this matter. Dkt. 23. For the Court to have diversity jurisdiction, the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and the litigation must be between citizens of different states. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). For diversity jurisdiction purposes, "the citizenship of an LLC is the citizenship of each of its members." Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir. 2007). For LLCs, parties must "work back through the ownership structure until [reaching] either individual human beings or a formal corporation with a state of incorporation and a state of principal place of business." Baez-Sanchez v. Sessions, 862 F.3d 638, 641 (7th Cir. 2017); Thomas, 487 F.3d at 534. Here, the First Amended Compliant identifies Defendants—Family Dollar Stores of Indiana, LLC and Strength of Nature, LLC—as LLCs, but it does not identify either LLC's members or the citizenship of those members. Counsel has an obligation to analyze subject-matter jurisdiction, Heinen v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 671 F.3d 669, 670 (7th Cir. 2012), and a federal court always has the responsibility to ensure that it has jurisdiction, Hukic v. Aurora Loan Servs., 588 F.3d 420, 427 (7th Cir. 2009). The Court's obligation includes knowing the details of the underlying jurisdictional allegations. See Evergreen Square of Cudahy v. Wis. Hous. and Econ. Dev. Auth., 776 F.3d 463, 465 (7th Cir. 2015) ("the parties' united front is irrelevant since the parties cannot confer subject-matter jurisdiction by agreement... and federal courts are obligated to inquire into the existence of jurisdiction sua sponte’). Therefore, the Court ORDERS the parties to file a joint jurisdictional statement by February 1, 2021, addressing the issues identified in this order. SO ORDERED. Date: 1/4/2021

James Patrick Hanlon United States District Judge Southern District of Indiana

Distribution:

Rom Byron KEN NUNN LAW OFFICE romb@kennunn.com

Anthony Marino Eleftheri DREWRY SIMMONS VORNEHM, LLP (Carmel) aeleftheri@dsvlaw.com

Melanie A. Kalmbach DREWRY SIMMONS VORNEHM, LLP (Carmel) mkalmbach@dsvlaw.com

Brittney B. Rykovich GORDON REES SCULLY MANSUKHANI brykovich@grsm.com

Tyler G. Tarney REMINGER CO. LPA (Columbus, OH) ttarney@grsm.com