Hoskins v. Bekins Van Lines

343 F.3d 769, 199 A.L.R. Fed. 743, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 18759, 2003 WL 22004097
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 10, 2003
Docket01-21236
StatusPublished
Cited by128 cases

This text of 343 F.3d 769 (Hoskins v. Bekins Van Lines) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hoskins v. Bekins Van Lines, 343 F.3d 769, 199 A.L.R. Fed. 743, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 18759, 2003 WL 22004097 (5th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge:

Eugenia T. Hoskins (“Hoskins”) sued Bekins Van Lines (“Bekins”), a common carrier, for damages stemming from the loss or damage to her personal belongings as a result of a move from Texas to Virginia. The district court granted summary judgment to Bekins. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On June 25, 1998, Hoskins contracted with Bekins to move and temporarily store her personal belongings in a storage facility in Houston, Texas, then later to ship her belongings to her new residence in Keswick, Virginia. At the time of delivery in Virginia, Hoskins noticed that many items were damaged or missing, including furniture and antique silverware. Hoskins filed claims with Bekins for the missing or damaged items. Bekins paid Hoskins $70,000 on her claims.

Hoskins contended that she was not fully compensated. 1 She filed suit in Texas state court. Hoskins’ state court petition alleged negligence, breach of contract, and violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Among other things, Hos-kins sought damages, including exemplary damages, and attorney’s fees. Hoskins’ state court petition asserted no federal claims.

On March 9, 2001, Bekins removed the case to federal district court based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1337 and 49 U.S.C. § 14706 (the “Carmack Amendment” to the Interstate Commerce Act). The same day, Bekins filed a motion to dismiss Hos-kins’ state law claims based on federal preemption. On July 9, 2001, the district court ordered that Hoskins’ state law claims were pre-empted by the Carmack Amendment. The district court further ordered that “Hoskins may not amend her complaint to add the Carmack Amendment expressly because the facts she has pleaded suffice.” Bekins then filed a motion for summary judgment. On October 30, 2001, the district court issued a take nothing judgment. Hoskins appeals, arguing that (1) the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because this case does not arise under the Carmack Amendment, or any other provision of federal law, and (2) the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Bekins because Hoskins did not sign or otherwise assent to the provisions in the bill of lading before the carriage of her property, Hoskins was not provided a meaningful opportunity to choose between liability limits, and a genu *772 ine issue of material fact exists concerning whether the loss was attributable to theft by Bekins’ employees or agents. For the following reasons, we find that the district court had subject matter jurisdiction, and we AFFIRM its grant of summary judgment to Bekins.

DISCUSSION

1. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

“We exercise plenary, de novo review of a district court’s assumption of subject matter jurisdiction.” Local 1S51 Int’l Longshoremens Ass’n v. Sea-Land Serv, Inc., 214 F.3d 566, 569 (5th Cir.2000).

Hoskins argues that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over this controversy because her claim does not arise under the Carmack Amendment, or any other provision of federal law. Bekins contends that Hoskins’ state court petition gives rise to federal question jurisdiction. Bekins removed the case to federal district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1337, and the Carmack Amendment, because Hoskins “seeks to impose liability arising out [of] the interstate transportation of goods by a common carrier.” 2

To determine whether a cause of action presents a federal question we examine the plaintiffs well-pleaded complaint. Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Mottley, 211 U.S. 149, 152, 29 S.Ct. 42, 53 L.Ed. 126 (1908) (“[A] suit arises under the Constitution and laws of the United States only when the plaintiffs statement of his own cause of action shows that it is based upon those laws or that Constitution.”). Generally, the plaintiff is the master of her complaint. Carpenter v. Wichita Falls Ind. School Dist., 44 F.3d 362, 366 (5th Cir.1995). Under the well-pleaded complaint rule, “federal jurisdiction exists only when a federal question is presented on the face of plaintiffs' properly pleaded complaint.” Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392, 107 S.Ct. 2425, 96 L.Ed.2d 318 (1987). “As a general rule, absent diversity jurisdiction, a case will not be removable if the complaint does not affirmatively allege a federal claim.” Beneficial Natl Bank v. Anderson, — U.S. -, 123 S.Ct. 2058, 2062, 156 L.Edüd 1 (2003).

“A defendant may not remove on the basis of an anticipated or even inevitable federal defense, but instead must show that a federal right is an element, and an essential one, of the plaintiffs cause of action.” Carpenter, 44 F.3d at 366 (internal quotation marks omitted). For example, a defense that relies on “the pre-emptive effect of a federal statute will not provide a basis for removal.” Beneficial, 123 S.Ct. at 2062 (citation omitted). As we have explained, “[a] plaintiff with a choice between federal — and state — law claims may elect to proceed in state court *773 on the exclusive basis of state law, thus defeating the defendant’s opportunity to remove, but taking the risk that his federal claims will one day be precluded.” Carpenter, 44 F.3d at 366.

The well-pleaded complaint rule, however, is not without its exceptions. In certain situations, Congress has created the exceptions. See Beneficial, 123 S.Ct. at 2062 (describing the unusual pre-emption provision in the Price-Anderson Act which expressly provides for removal of actions brought in state court “even when they assert only state-law claims”). In other contexts, the Supreme Court has construed certain federal statutes as “not only preempting state law but also authorizing removal of actions that sought relief only under state law.” Id. (determining that §§ 85 and 86 of the National Bank Act provide for complete pre-emption); Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, 481 U.S. 58, 107 S.Ct.

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343 F.3d 769, 199 A.L.R. Fed. 743, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 18759, 2003 WL 22004097, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoskins-v-bekins-van-lines-ca5-2003.