Orkideh Daroodi, et al. v. Barry D. Kitaen, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedAugust 5, 2024
Docket3:23-cv-01490
StatusUnknown

This text of Orkideh Daroodi, et al. v. Barry D. Kitaen, et al. (Orkideh Daroodi, et al. v. Barry D. Kitaen, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Orkideh Daroodi, et al. v. Barry D. Kitaen, et al., (S.D. Cal. 2024).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 ORKIDEH DAROODI, et al., Case No.: 23-cv-1490-RBM-JLB

11 Plaintiffs, ORDER: 12 v. (1) DENYING MOTION TO 13 BARRY D. KITAEN, et al., DISMISS AS MOOT 14 Defendants. (2) DENYING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE 15 ELECTRONICALLY 16 (3) ORDERING PLAINTIFFS TO SHOW CAUSE WHY THIS 17 CASE SHOULD NOT BE 18 DISMISSED FOR LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER 19 JURISDICTION 20 [Docs. 3, 5] 21 22 23 Pending before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants Barry David 24 Kitaen, as an individual, and Barry David Kitaen, as Trustee of the Mona Shahrokhi 2000 25 Trust (“Defendants”). (Doc. 3.) Defendants move to dismiss the initial Complaint filed 26 by pro se Plaintiffs Orkideh Daroodi, Parvin Afsharpour, and Ali Shahrokhi (Doc. 1). 27 Plaintiff Shahrokhi has also filed a Motion for Pro Se Plaintiff to File Electronically 28 (“Motion to File Electronically”). (Doc. 5.) 1 For the reasons set forth below, the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is DENIED as 2 moot based on Plaintiffs’ timely filing of a First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) (Doc. 6). 3 However, Plaintiffs are ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE why this case should not be 4 dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Court also DENIES without 5 prejudice Shahrokhi’s Motion for Leave to File Electronically. 6 I. BACKGROUND 7 A. Initial Complaint 8 On August 14, 2023, Plaintiffs Daroodi, Afsharpour, and Shahrokhi filed a verified 9 Complaint asserting seven state law claims against Defendants. (Doc. 1 at 11–23.1) The 10 Complaint states the Court has subject matter jurisdiction based on diversity. (Id. at 1, 2– 11 3.) 12 The Complaint alleges Plaintiff Daroodi “is a citizen of the United States … 13 currently residing in Tehran, Iran [and] travels to the United States at least annually.” (Id. 14 at 3.) Plaintiff Afsharpour is alleged to be “a resident of the city of Los Angeles, 15 California.” (Id.) Plaintiff Shahrokhi is alleged to be “a resident of both the city of Los 16 Angeles, California, and Portland, Oregon.” (Id. at 3–4.) Plaintiff Shahrokhi is also 17 alleged to be “acting as a natural parent and legal guardian to represent the interests of his 18 son, a minor, referred to as B.E.S., who has been named as one of the beneficiaries of the 19 TRUST.” (Id. at 4.) Defendant Kitaen is alleged to be a resident of San Diego, California. 20 (Id. at 4.) 21 B. Motion to Dismiss 22 On September 8, 2023, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss based on lack of 23 subject matter jurisdiction. (Doc. 3.) Defendants argue diversity jurisdiction is lacking 24 because Defendant Kitaen and Plaintiff Afsharpour are both alleged to reside in California. 25 (Id. at 2–3.) 26 27 28 1 C. First Amended Complaint 2 On September 12, 2024, Plaintiffs Daroodi and Shahrokhi filed the FAC pursuant to 3 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(1). (Doc. 6.) The FAC, like the initial Complaint, 4 asserts only state law claims, although the FAC adds one additional state law claim. (Id. 5 at 11–28.) 6 Some of the allegations regarding where the Plaintiffs reside have changed in the 7 verified FAC. (Id. a 3–4.) Plaintiff Afsharpour, previously alleged to be a resident of Los 8 Angeles, California in the initial Complaint (Doc. 1 at 3), is no longer named as a Plaintiff 9 in the FAC. (See Doc. 6 at 3 (listing only Daroodi and Shahrokhi as Plaintiffs).)2 The 10 allegations as to Plaintiff Shahrokhi have changed slightly. The FAC no longer alleges 11 Plaintiff Shahrokhi is a resident of both Los Angeles, California and Portland, Oregon. The 12 FAC alleges only that Plaintiff Shahrokhi “is acting as a natural father (parent) to represent 13 the interests of his son, a minor, referred to as B.E.S., who resides in Oregon and has been 14 named as one of the beneficiaries of the TRUST and a[n] heir to Mona Shahrokhi.” (Id. at 15 3.) Additionally, the Court notes that the address listed for Plaintiff Shahrokhi on the FAC 16 and Motion to File Electronically is in Las Vegas, Nevada. 17 Like the initial Complaint, the FAC continues to allege Plaintiff Daroodi “is a citizen 18 of the United States … currently residing in Tehran, Iran [and] travels to the United States 19 at least annually.” (Id. at 3.) As in the initial Complaint, Defendant Kitaen is still alleged 20 to be a resident of San Diego, California. (Id.) 21 II. DISCUSSION 22 A. Motion to Dismiss 23 Plaintiffs’ FAC was timely filed as a matter of right under Federal Rule of Civil 24 Procedure 15(a)(1). Rule 15(a)(1) addresses amending as a matter of course and states 25 that: “[a] party may amend its pleading once as a matter of course no later than: 21 days 26 27 2 Plaintiffs indicate that “[f]or the sake of maintaining diversity jurisdiction, the plaintiffs 28 1 after serving it, or (B) if the pleading is one to which a responsive pleading is required, 21 2 days after service of a responsive pleading or 21 days after service of a motion under Rule 3 12(b), (e), or (f), whichever is earlier.” 4 Plaintiffs’ FAC, filed on September 12, 2023, was filed within 21 days of 5 Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Because the timely filed FAC is now the operative 6 pleading, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the initial Complaint is moot.3 Accordingly, 7 Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 3) is DENIED as moot. 8 B. Order to Show Cause 9 1. Subject Matter Jurisdiction 10 “Federal district courts are courts of limited jurisdiction that ‘may not grant relief 11 absent a constitutional or valid statutory grant of jurisdiction’ and are ‘presumed to lack 12 jurisdiction in a particular case unless the contrary affirmatively appears.’” Cooper v. 13 Tokyo Elec. Power Co., 990 F. Supp. 2d 1035, 1038 (S.D. Cal. 2013) (quoting A-Z Int’l v. 14 Phillips, 323 F.3d 1141, 1145 (9th Cir. 2003)). Even when no party raises the issue, federal 15 courts are “obliged to inquire sua sponte whenever a doubt arises as to the existence of 16 federal jurisdiction.” Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 278 17 (1977) (citations omitted); see also Henderson ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U.S. 428, 18 434 (2011) (“[F]ederal courts have an independent obligation to ensure that they do not 19 exceed the scope of their jurisdiction, and therefore they must raise and decide 20 jurisdictional questions that the parties either overlook or elect not to press.”). 21 The party or parties asserting jurisdiction, here Plaintiffs, bear the burden of 22 establishing that subject matter jurisdiction exists. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of 23 Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994). “This burden, at the pleading stage, must be met by 24 25 26 3 Although the Court finds Plaintiffs’ FAC was timely filed, Defendants are not required to 27 file a response to the FAC until the Court discharges the Order to Show Cause, discussed below. The Court will set a deadline for Defendants to respond to the FAC if the Court 28 1 pleading sufficient allegations to show a proper basis for the court to assert subject matter 2 jurisdiction over an action.” Duell Fam. Tr. v. Ford, No. 24-CV-316 JLS (VET), 2024 WL 3 1318878, at *3 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 27, 2024) (citing Wilkerson v. Butler, 229 F.R.D. 166, 169 4 (E.D. Cal. 2005)). 5 Here, Plaintiffs assert diversity jurisdiction. (Doc. 6 at 2.) Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 6 §1332(a), federal courts have diversity jurisdiction when there is diversity of citizenship 7 among the parties and when the amount-in-controversy exceeds $75,000.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America
511 U.S. 375 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Caterpillar Inc. v. Lewis
519 U.S. 61 (Supreme Court, 1996)
Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L. P.
541 U.S. 567 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Henderson v. Shinseki
131 S. Ct. 1197 (Supreme Court, 2011)
Leo Mantin v. Broadcast Music, Inc., a Corporation
244 F.2d 204 (Ninth Circuit, 1957)
Solomon Lew v. Stanton Moss and Harlean Moss
797 F.2d 747 (Ninth Circuit, 1986)
Cooper v. Tokyo Electric Power Co.
990 F. Supp. 2d 1035 (S.D. California, 2013)
Wilkerson v. Butler
229 F.R.D. 166 (E.D. California, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Orkideh Daroodi, et al. v. Barry D. Kitaen, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orkideh-daroodi-et-al-v-barry-d-kitaen-et-al-casd-2024.