Kathy Kroske, an Individual v. Us Bank Corp., a Foreign Corporation Dba U.S. Bank

432 F.3d 976, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 28488, 97 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 122, 2005 WL 3502061
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedDecember 23, 2005
Docket04-35187
StatusPublished
Cited by224 cases

This text of 432 F.3d 976 (Kathy Kroske, an Individual v. Us Bank Corp., a Foreign Corporation Dba U.S. Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Kathy Kroske, an Individual v. Us Bank Corp., a Foreign Corporation Dba U.S. Bank, 432 F.3d 976, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 28488, 97 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 122, 2005 WL 3502061 (9th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

PAEZ, Circuit Judge.

Kathy Kroske appeals the district court’s order granting Defendant U.S. Bank Corp.’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing Kroske’s age discrimination claim under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”), Wash. Rev.Code §§ 49.60.010-400. Kroske first contends that the district court erroneously concluded that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000 and therefore improperly determined that it had diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). Kroske further argues that the district court erroneously concluded that the National Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 21-216d, preempts her age discrimination claim under the WLAD. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We conclude that diversity jurisdiction is proper and that Kroske’s age discrimination claim under the WLAD was not preempted. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

I. Background

U.S. Bank Corp., a Delaware corporation, owns U.S. Bank National Association, which is a federally chartered National Banking Association that was formed in accordance with the National Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. § 21. The Bank is governed by a *979 board of directors, which is empowered by the Bank’s bylaws to elect and discharge officers.

Kathy Kroske began working for the Bank in 1977 as a teller. On April 20, 1993, the Bank’s board of directors elected Kroske as an officer in the role of Assistant Vice President. During restructuring due to a merger, the Bank changed Kroske’s position from retail market manager to manager of the Manito bank branch in Spokane, Washington. As manager, Kroske was notified that her branch was not meeting the Bank’s goals and quotas for business activity. Although Kroske contends that her branch was the smallest in the area with the fewest employees, and that she was short-staffed, the Bank continued to insist that her branch meet fixed business activity levels and warned that she would be disciplined if it did not. Ultimately, in July 2002, the Bank terminated Kroske for allegedly failing to meet the daily performance goals. The board of directors subsequently ratified Kroske’s termination in a meeting convened in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Kroske filed suit in Washington State Superior Court against the Bank. She alleged that at the time of her termination, the other branch managers in the region were in their twenties and thirties, while Kroske was fifty-one years old. Further, the Bank, allegedly gave these younger managers a reasonable opportunity to meet the business activity goals and denied Kroske such an opportunity. In addition, Kroske contended that she was replaced by an employee who was in his mid-twenties and possessed less experience than Kroske. Kroske therefore alleged that the Bank had terminated her on the basis of her age in violation of the WLAD, and sought damages, as well as attorney’s fees and costs. In her complaint, Kroske did not allege any federal causes of action.

The Bank removed the case to federal court and, once in federal court, filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Kroske’s state discrimination claim was preempted by the National Bank Act, specifically 12 U.S.C. § 24(Fifth), which grants national banks the power to dismiss officers “at pleasure.” Kroske opposed the motion, contending that she was not an officer under § 24(Fifth) and, in the alternative, that the National Bank Act did not preempt her age discrimination claim under the WLAD.

The district court granted the Bank’s motion for summary judgment. The court held that Kroske qualified as an “officer” under the National Bank Act. Further, the district court concluded that § 24(Fifth) preempts the field of law regulating the Bank’s employment practices and therefore preempted Kroske’s age discrimination claim under the WLAD. Kroske timely appealed, challenging the district court’s jurisdiction and the grant of summary judgment.

II. Amount In Controversy

Kroske first contends that removal of her case to federal court was improper because the district court lacked diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. 1 She argues that the Bank did not meet its burden of establishing that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000. “We review de novo a district court’s determination that diversity jurisdiction exists.” Breitman v. May Co. Cal., 37 F.3d 562, 563 (9th Cir.1994). The factual determinations necessary to establish diversity jurisdiction are reviewed for clear error. Co *980 Efficient Energy Sys. v. CSL Indus., Inc., 812 F.2d 556, 557 (9th Cir.1987).

Where, as here, “the complaint does not demand a dollar amount, the removing defendant bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that the amount in controversy exceeds $[75],000.” Singer v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 116 F.3d 373, 376 (9th Cir.1997); Cohn v. Petsmart, Inc., 281 F.3d 837, 839 (9th Cir.2002). The amount in controversy includes the amount of damages in dispute, as well as attorney’s fees, if authorized by statute or contract. See Galt G/S v. JSS Scandinavia, 142 F.3d 1150, 1155-56 (9th Cir.1998). When the amount is not “facially apparent” from the complaint, “the court may consider facts in the removal petition, and may ‘require parties to submit summary-judgment-type evidence relevant to the amount in controversy at the time of removal.’ ” Singer, 116 F.3d at 377 (quoting Allen v. R & H Oil & Gas Co., 63 F.3d 1326, 1335-36 (5th Cir. 1995)).

Here, Kroske’s complaint alleged that “she suffered and continues to suffer economic and emotion [sic] injuries and other damages, with specific amounts to be proven at the time of trial.” In response to the Bank’s interrogatories, Kroske further identified the following categories of damages: lost wages, benefits including but not limited to health and mental insurance, 401 (k) contributions, value of life insurance policies, stock options, and emotional distress damages, as well as attorney’s fees and costs. Kroske did not, however, allege the amount of damages or fees she sought.

In determining the amount in controversy, the district court properly considered Kroske’s interrogatory answers and emotional distress damage awards in similar age discrimination cases in Washington. See De Aguilar v. Boeing Co., 11 F.3d 55, 58 (5th Cir.1993).

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432 F.3d 976, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 28488, 97 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 122, 2005 WL 3502061, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kathy-kroske-an-individual-v-us-bank-corp-a-foreign-corporation-dba-ca9-2005.