Nigel Douglas v. Rod Joseph

656 F. App'x 602
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedSeptember 13, 2016
Docket16-1442
StatusUnpublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 656 F. App'x 602 (Nigel Douglas v. Rod Joseph) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nigel Douglas v. Rod Joseph, 656 F. App'x 602 (3d Cir. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION *

PER CURIAM

Nigel Nicholas Douglas appeals the District Court’s order granting' a Motion to Dismiss. Because we conclude that this appeal presents no substantial question, we will summarily affirm the District Court’s judgment. See 3d Cir. LAR 27.4; I.O.P. 10.6.

I.

Douglas, a federal inmate formerly housed at USP-AUenwood, filed this diversity action in April of 2013 raising Pennsylvania state law claims of replevin and conversion. Douglas is an artist. In addition to *604 paintings and supplies in his cell, Douglas had paintings drying in the recreation department. In June 2010, he was placed in the Special Housing Unit. He alleges that there was no inventory form filled out for any of those items at that time. The Complaint alleges that in July 2010, Douglas was told that Appellee Rod Joseph had collected Douglas’s paintings instead of allowing the unit officer to inventory them and place them with the rest of his belongings in SHU storage. Douglas began making requests for information about his paintings in mid-July 2010. Douglas alleges that Joseph visited him in SHU in August 2010 and told him that all of his paintings and supplies had been collected and would be shipped out for him if he was transferred.

On September 20, 2010, Douglas was transferred to USP-Victorville. On October 1, 2010, Douglas was issued his property, but his paintings and art supplies were missing. From October through December 2010, Douglas enlisted the help of USP-Victorville staff to contact USP-A1-lenwood staff on his behalf, but did not succeed in securing the return of his belongings. Douglas alleged the value of the eight paintings and supplies to be $527,000.

Joseph filed a Motion to Dismiss or, in the alternative, for Summary Judgment. The motion argued, inter alia, that diversity jurisdiction was lacking and that Douglas had exceeded the statute of limitations. The District Court ruled against Douglas on both grounds and dismissed this action. Douglas now appeals.

II.

We have appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Our standard of review of the District Court’s dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) is plenary. Solis v. Local 234, Transp. Workers Union, 585 F.3d 172, 176 (3d Cir. 2009). Likewise, we exercise plenary review over a District Court’s decision to grant a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds. Algrant v. Evergreen Valley Nurseries Ltd. P’ship, 126 F.3d 178, 181 (3d Cir. 1997).

To invoke diversity jurisdiction, a controversy must be between citizens of different states, 1 and the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). Whether diversity jurisdiction exists is determined by examining “the facts as they exist when the complaint is filed.” Newman-Green, Inc, v. Alfonzo-Larrain, 490 U.S. 826, 830, 109 S.Ct. 2218, 104 L.Ed.2d 893 (1989). We discern the amount in controversy by consulting the face of the complaint and accepting the plaintiffs good faith allegations. See Horton v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 367 U.S. 348, 353, 81 S.Ct. 1570, 6 L.Ed.2d 890 (1961); Frederico v. Home Depot, 507 F.3d 188, 194 (3d Cir. 2007). “[T]he sum claimed by the plaintiff controls if the claim is apparently made in good faith.” Suber v. Chrysler Corp., 104 F.3d 578, 583 (3d Cir. 1997) (quoting St. Paul Mercury Indem. Co. v. Red Cab Co., 303 U.S. 283, 288-89, 58 S.Ct. 586, 82 L.Ed. 845 (1938)).

District Courts should dismiss a case for failure to meet the amount in controversy requirement only if, from that face of the complaint, it is a “legal certainty” that the plaintiff cannot recover $75,000, or if, from the-proofs, it appears to a legal certainty that the plaintiff is not entitled to that amount. St. Paul Mercury, 303 U.S. at 289, 58 S.Ct. 586. Stated differently, “[i]t must appear to a legal certainty that the plain *605 tiffs claim is really for less than the jurisdictional amount to justify a dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.” 14AA Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 3702 (4th ed. Supp. 2016). “[T]he question whether a plaintiffs claims pass the ‘legal certainty* standard is a threshold matter that should involve the court in only minimal scrutiny of the plaintiffs claims.” Suber, 104 F.3d at 583. In applying the “legal certainty” test established by St. Paul Mercury, this Court has stated that “dismissal is appropriate only if the federal court is certain that the jurisdictional amount cannot be met.” Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. v. Tarbuck, 62 F.3d 538, 541 (3d Cir. 1995) (emphasis added). The court should not consider in its jurisdictional inquiry “the legal sufficiency of [a plaintiffs] claims or whether the legal theory advanced by [a plaintiff] is probably unsound; rather, a court can dismiss the case only if there is a legal certainty that the plaintiff cannot recover more than $[75,000].” Suber, 104 F.3d at 583.

Here, on the face of the Complaint, Douglas claims that his paintings had a value of $527,000—specifically, $180,000, $90,000, $70,000, $45,000, $30,000, $30,000, and $30,000. He advances the theory that these values are based in part upon comparable auction and gallery sales. The District Court ruled that Douglas had not alleged facts to support his claims for damages, attributing the alleged values to sentimentality. In doing so, we believe that the District Court applied the incorrect standard. Here, Douglas alleged a particular value for his paintings and art supplies. We cannot say that this value was disproportionate because the paintings have gone missing and it is impossible to have them appraised. More importantly, however, the law commands that we accept Douglas’s apparent good faith claim. The defendant, on the other hand, made no convincing effort to show that Douglas’s claim was for less than the jurisdictional amount. While Douglas’s paintings and supplies together may not be worth a total of $527,000, we cannot say that, to a legal certainty, they are not worth $75,000, and that is the proper test at this stage of the litigation.

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Bluebook (online)
656 F. App'x 602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nigel-douglas-v-rod-joseph-ca3-2016.