Rompe v. Yablon

277 F. Supp. 662, 12 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 344, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7499
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 22, 1967
Docket63 Civ. 703
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 277 F. Supp. 662 (Rompe v. Yablon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rompe v. Yablon, 277 F. Supp. 662, 12 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 344, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7499 (S.D.N.Y. 1967).

Opinion

OPINION

LEVET, District Judge.

This court, sua sponte, raised the question of subject-matter jurisdiction and defendant moved to dismiss the complaints of plaintiffs Wilfred C. Rompe, Jr. and Donald Rompe upon the ground that jurisdiction under Section 1332(a) of Title 28 U.S.C.A. is not here present.

The three plaintiffs in a complaint filed in this court on March 13, 1963 each separately sued for personal injuries. The plaintiff Wilfred C. Rompe, Jr., sued in addition for property damage to his automobile.

On July 5, 1966, a pretrial order was entered to which both plaintiffs’ attorney and defendant’s attorney consented in writing. With reference to the claims of Donald Rompe and Wilfred C. Rompe, Jr., paragraph 7 is as follows:

“7. The following are all of the cláims for damages or for the other relief asserted by the plaintiffs in this action, as of the date of this conference
ON BEHALF OF DONALD ROMPE
Wages lost during the period May 7,1960 to August, 1960:. .$1,000.00
Physician’s services and medical supplies, approximately, .. $ 200.00
Pain and suffering....................................$5,000.00
ON BEHALF OF WILFRED C. ROMPE
Physician’s services and medical supplies, approximately ... $ 35.00
Property damages, approximately.......................$ 140.00”

By the said pretrial order it appears that the total damages claimed by Donald Rompe are $6,200 and that the total claim of Wilfred C. Rompe, Jr., is $175.

At a hearing before this court on November 6,1967, counsel for plaintiff Donald Rompe conceded that the sum of $5,-000 claimed for pain and suffering would be fair and reasonable under all of the circumstances (SM 8). No claim was asserted for any further treatment or medical expense, nor was any motion made to amend the pretrial order.

Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in its pertinent part provides as follows:

“The court shall make an order * * which limits the issues for trial to those not disposed of by admissions or agreements of counsel; and such order when entered controls the subsequent course of the action, unless modified at the trial to prevent manifest injustice. * * *»

“The pre-trial order supersedes the pleadings and becomes the governing pattern of the lawsuit.” Murrah, Chief Judge, in Case v. Abrams, 352 F.2d 193, 195 (10th Cir. 1965).

. Where the pretrial order contains agreement upon the extent of damages, it is controlling over any Assertion in the pleadings. Olson v. Shinnihon Kisen K. K., 25 F.R.D. 7 (E.D.Pa.1950); Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Northern Pacific Term. Co., 17 F.R.D. 52 (D.C.Oregon 1954).

Rule 20 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, providing for permissive joinder of plaintiffs in certain cases, does not support the claim of jurisdiction here of plaintiff Wilfred C. Rompe, Jr., or plaintiff Donald Rompe. See Smith v. Abbate, 201 F.Supp. 105 (S.D.N.Y.1961). “ * * * joinder of parties and causes of action under the Federal Rules is permissive only where the court has jurisdiction based upon a federal question or *664 upon diversity of citizenship and requisite jurisdictional amount. * * * ” Geisert v. Corriveau, 140 F.Supp. 29, 31 (E.D.Michigan 1956).

Counsel for plaintiffs has an erroneous impression that the plaintiffs, having allegedly been injured in the same accident, may, in a case in which defendant is of diverse citizenship to plaintiffs, sue in a federal district court, irrespective of the fact that certain plaintiffs do not assert a claim in excess of $10,000. However, aggregation of claims for jurisdictional purposes is improper. Each plaintiff’s claim must reach the jurisdictional amount. See, generally, 1 Moore’s Federal Practice par. 0.97(3) (2nd ed. 1961); Hackner v. Guaranty Trust Co., 117 F.2d 95 (2nd Cir.), cert. denied, 313 U.S. 559, 61 S.Ct. 835, 85 L.Ed. 1520 (1941); Arnold v. Troccoli, 60 Civ. 3808 (S.D.N.Y. May 25, 1964), affirmed, 344 F.2d 842, 843, footnote 1 (2nd Cir. 1965).

The basic principles affecting this case are well enumerated in Sturgeon v. Great Lakes Steel Corporation, 143 F. 2d 819 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 323 U.S. 779, 65 S.Ct. 190, 89 L.Ed. 622 (1944), where Hamilton, C. J., wrote as follows:

“It is the policy of the Congress to force litigants, citizens of different states, to settle their disputes in state courts, unless the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $3,000. Healy v. Ratta, 292 U.S. 263, 54 S.Ct. 700, 78 L.Ed. 1248. In order to support the court’s jurisdiction in diversity of citizenship actions, facts must appear in the record showing to a legal certainty that the requisite jurisdictional amount is involved.
“The rule is thoroughly settled that where two or more plaintiffs have separate and distinct demands in a single suit, it is essential that the demand of each be of the requisite jurisdictional amount, but when several plaintiffs unite to enforce a single title or right in which they have a common, undivided interest, it is enough if their interests collectively equal the jurisdictional amount. Gibson v. Shufeldt, 122 U.S. 27, 7 S.Ct. 1066, 30 L.Ed. 1083; Clay v. Field, 138 U.S. 464, 479, 11 S.Ct. 419, 34 L.Ed. 1044; Troy Bank [of Troy, Ind.] v. Whitehead, 222 U.S. 39, 32 S.Ct. 9, 56 L.Ed. 81.” (p. 821)

Compare Fechheimer Bros. Co. v. Barnwasser, 146 F.2d 974, 976 (6th Cir. 1945).

The Second Circuit has clearly enunciated the rule applicable to this case: Hackner v. Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, 117 F.2d 95, 97 (2nd Cir. 1941) and Arnold v. Troccoli, 344 F.2d 842, 843, footnote 1 (2nd Cir. 1965). In Hackner, supra, Clark, C. J., wrote:

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

Related

Raya Rodriguez v. Sears, Roebuck
349 F. Supp. 2d 211 (D. Puerto Rico, 2004)
Stewart v. Tupperware Corp.
241 F. Supp. 2d 132 (D. Puerto Rico, 2003)
Del Rosario Ortega v. Star-Kist Foods, Inc.
213 F. Supp. 2d 84 (D. Puerto Rico, 2002)
Matter of Seven Springs Apartments, Phase II
33 B.R. 458 (N.D. Georgia, 1983)
Madison Consultants v. Federal Deposit Insurance
710 F.2d 57 (Second Circuit, 1983)
In Re Conley
26 B.R. 885 (M.D. Tennessee, 1983)
Freeman v. Gordon & Breach, Science Publishers, Inc.
398 F. Supp. 519 (S.D. New York, 1975)
Hylte Bruks Aktiebolag v. Babcock & Wilcox Co.
305 F. Supp. 803 (S.D. New York, 1969)
Glicksman v. Laitman
279 F. Supp. 425 (S.D. New York, 1968)
Oxman v. Hellene Pessl Inc.
279 F. Supp. 65 (S.D. New York, 1968)
Donato v. Parillo
278 F. Supp. 892 (S.D. New York, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
277 F. Supp. 662, 12 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 344, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7499, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rompe-v-yablon-nysd-1967.