Hani Mohammad Ashour, individually and as representative of the Estate of Dalal Hammad Ashour v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, LLC, and Parker Central Plaza Ltd.

District Court, E.D. Texas·Decided March 30, 2026·No. 4:25-cv-01097·Unknown

Opinion

United States District Court EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SHERMAN DIVISION

HANI MOHAMMAD ASHOUR, § individually and as representative of § THE ESTATE OF DALAL HAMMAD § ASHOUR, § § Plaintiffs, § Civil Action No. 4:25-cv-1097 v. § Judge Mazzant § 24 HOUR FITNESS USA, LLC, and § PARKER CENTRAL PLAZA LTD. § § Defendants. § MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s Corrected Motion to Remand (the “Motion”) (Dkt. #7). Having considered the Motion and the relevant pleadings, the Court finds that the Motion should be DENIED. BACKGROUND This is a wrongful death case. On or about June 16, 2025, Dalal Hammad Ashour (the “Decedent”) drowned to death in a swimming pool owned by 24 Hour Fitness USA, LLC (“24HR”). On August 15, 2025, Plaintiff filed suit in the 471st Judicial District Court of Collin County, Texas, seeking recovery for Decedent’s death (Dkt. #1-3 at p. 2). On October 7, 2025, 24HR removed the case to this Court pursuant to this Court’s diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §1332 and in accordance with Local Rule CV-81 (Dkt. #1 at p. 1). In its argument for removal, 24HR alleged that Defendant Parker Central Plaza LTD (“Parker Central”) was improperly joined to defeat diversity jurisdiction (Dkt. #7 at p. 4). On November 6, 2025, Plaintiff filed the present Motion, seeking to remand the case to state court (Dkt. #7). Defendants filed a response (Dkt. #8). Following a cursory inspection of Plaintiff’s pleadings, the Court granted Plaintiff leave to amend her original petition to better conform to federal pleading standards (Dkt. #14). Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on March 11, 2026 (Dkt. #15). The Court is now

tasked with determining whether Plaintiff’s amendment was sufficient to state a claim against Parker Central. LEGAL STANDARD “‘Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction,’ possessing ‘only that power authorized by Constitution and statute.’” Gunn v. Minton, 568 U.S. 251, 256 (2013) (quoting Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994)). “Only state-court actions that originally

could have been filed in federal court may be removed to federal court by the defendant.” Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392 (1987) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a)). “In an action that has been removed to federal court, a district court is required to remand the case to state court if, at any time before final judgment, it determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction.” Humphrey v. Tex. Gas Serv., No. 1:14-CV-485, 2014 WL 12687831, at *2 (E.D. Tex. Dec. 11, 2014). The Court “must presume that a suit lies outside [its] limited jurisdiction,” Howery v. Allstate Ins. Co., 243 F.3d 912, 916 (5th Cir. 2001), and “[a]ny ambiguities are construed against removal and in favor of

remand to state court.” Mumfrey v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc., 719 F.3d 392, 397 (5th Cir. 2013) (citing Manguno v. Prudential Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 276 F.3d 720, 723 (5th Cir. 2002)). “When considering a motion to remand, ‘the removing party bears the burden of showing that federal jurisdiction exists and that removal was proper.’” Humphrey, 2014 WL 12687831, at *2 (citation modified) (quoting Manguno, 276 F.3d at 723). ANALYSIS I. Diversity Jurisdiction Plaintiff contends that remand is proper because Defendants have failed to establish complete diversity of citizenship (Dkt. #7 at p. 7). If successful, Plaintiff’s argument would warrant

remand of the case, as subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 only exists where there is complete diversity of citizenship between the parties. Vantage Drilling Co. v. Hsin-Chi Su, 741 F.3d 535, 537 (5th Cir. 2014). For diversity purposes, an individual is a citizen of the state where they are domiciled. MidCap Media Fin., L.L.C. v. Pathway Data, Inc., 929 F.3d 310, 313–14 (5th Cir. 2019). A corporation is a citizen of the state, or states, of its incorporation and the state where its principal place of business is located. Id. The citizenship of a limited liability company and a limited

partnership is determined by considering the citizenship of all the members and partners. Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077, 1080 (5th Cir. 2008); Temple Drilling Co. v. La. Ins. Guar. Ass’n, 946 F.2d 390, 393 (5th Cir. 1991). The party invoking jurisdiction under § 1332 is responsible for showing that the parties are completely diverse. See Menchaca v. Chrysler Credit Corp., 613 F.2d 507, 511 (5th Cir. 1980). A. Plaintiff’s Citizenship Plaintiff is an individual who is domiciled in Texas (Dkt. #1-3 at p. 3; Dkt. #7 at p. 7). As a

result, Plaintiff is a citizen of Texas for diversity purposes. See MidCap, 929 F.3d at 313–14. B. Defendants’ Citizenship 24HR is a California limited liability company (Dkt. #1 at p. 4). None of its members are citizens of Texas (Dkt. #1 at p. 4). Thus, 24HR’s citizenship is sufficiently diverse from Plaintiff’s to satisfy the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1332. See Grey Wolf, 542 F.3d at 1080. The Court’s analysis cannot stop there, however, as “[t]he diversity statute requires complete diversity of citizenship. A federal court cannot exercise diversity jurisdiction if one of the plaintiffs shares the same citizenship as any one of the defendants” Stiftung v. Plains Mktg., L.P.,

603 F.3d 295, 297 (5th Cir. 2010) (citation modified) (internal citation omitted). Parker Central is a Texas limited partnership with at least one member who is a citizen of Texas (Dkt. #1-3 at p. 4; Dkt. #1 at p. 5). Hence, Parker Central shares a common state of citizenship with Plaintiff: Texas. See id.; Grey Wolf, 542 F.3d at 1080. This shared citizenship risks compromising this Court’s diversity jurisdiction. If Defendants are unable to establish improper joinder as to Parker Central, diversity is destroyed and the Court must remand the case for lack of

subject matter jurisdiction. See, e.g., Narvaiz v. Wal-Mart Stores Tex., LLC, No. 2:13-CV-195, 2013 WL 4677811, at *1 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 30, 2013) (“If Defendants fail to establish improper joinder, then there is not complete diversity of citizenship among the parties, and the Court must remand the action for lack of subject- matter jurisdiction.”). II. Improper Joinder “The party seeking removal bears a heavy burden of proving that the joinder of the in-state party was improper.” Smallwood v. Ill. Cent. R.R. Co., 385 F.3d 568, 574 (5th Cir. 2004). The removing party must show either (1) there has been actual fraud in the pleading of jurisdictional

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Hani Mohammad Ashour, individually and as representative of the Estate of Dalal Hammad Ashour v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, LLC, and Parker Central Plaza Ltd., (E.D. Tex. 2026).

Hani Mohammad Ashour, individually and as representative of the Estate of Dalal Hammad Ashour v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, LLC, and Parker Central Plaza Ltd. (Hani Mohammad Ashour, individually and as representative of the Estate of Dalal Hammad Ashour v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, LLC, and Parker Central Plaza Ltd.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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