Harris v. American Family Insurance

• Court: District Court, W.D. Washington
• Decided: August 7, 2023
• Docket: 2:23-cv-01052
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 6 AT SEATTLE 7 CHRISTOPHER HARRIS, Cause No. C23-1052RSL 8 Plaintiff, 9 v. ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE 10 AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE, et al., 11 Defendants. 12 13 This matter comes before the Court sua sponte. On August 1, 2023, plaintiff’s application 14 to proceed in forma pauperis was granted (Dkt. # 7), and his complaint was accepted for filing 15 (Dkt. # 8). Plaintiff alleges that he was injured in a car accident on October 15, 2022, as a result 16 of defendant Barbara Farrand’s negligence, that he has incurred medical bills of approximately 17 $20,000, and that defendant Lauren Zakowski, American Family Insurance’s claims adjuster, has 18 been unprofessional and low-balled two settlement offers. The complaint does not allege any 19 20 federal causes of action, does not identify the citizenship of any of the parties, and does not give 21 rise to a plausible inference that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. 22 Because federal courts have limited jurisdiction, “[a] federal court is presumed to lack 23 jurisdiction in a particular case unless the contrary affirmatively appears.” Stock W., Inc. v. 24 Confederated Tribes, 873 F.2d 1221, 1225 (9th Cir. 1989). Plaintiff has the burden of alleging 25 26 facts sufficient to establish the Court’s jurisdiction. He has not done so. In the absence of a 27 1 viable federal claim, plaintiff must allege facts sufficient for the Court to find both (i) that the 2 amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 and (ii) that there is complete diversity of citizenship 3 between the plaintiff and each of the named defendants. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a); Kuntz v. Lamar 4 Corp., 385 F.3d 1177, 1181 (9th Cir. 2004). 5 6 7 Plaintiff is hereby ordered to show cause why this matter should not be dismissed for 8 having failed to provide evidence establishing that it is more likely than not that the Court has 9 jurisdiction to hear the case. Plaintiff’s response, if any, is due on or before Wednesday, August 10 23, 2023. The Clerk of Court is directed to note this Order to Show Cause on the Court’s 11 calendar for Friday, August 25, 2023. 12 13 14 Dated this 7th day of August, 2023. 15 Robert S. Lasnik 16 United States District Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27