Sabre Industries Inc v. McLaurin

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA SHREVEPORT DIVISION

SABRE INDUSTRIES, INC. CIVIL ACTION NO. 19-cv-0934

VERSUS JUDGE DOUGHTY

JOSEPH MCLAURIN MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY

MEMORANDUM ORDER Sabre Industries, Inc. (“Plaintiff”) filed this civil action against Joseph McLaurin for alleged violations of a non-disclosure agreement. The complaint invokes this court’s subject matter jurisdiction on the basis of 28 USC § 1332, which requires Sabre to allege facts showing complete diversity of citizenship of the parties and an amount in controversy over $75,000. The complaint states that Sabre is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Texas. The complaint also alleges that the amount in controversy is over $75,000. Those allegations are sufficient. Plaintiff states that McLaurin is a resident of Louisiana. It is domicile rather than mere residency that decides citizenship for diversity purposes, and an allegation of residency alone does not satisfy the requirement of an allegation of citizenship. MidCap Media Finance, LLC v. Pathway Data, Inc., ___ F.3d ___, 2019 WL 2943486 (5th Cir. 2019), quoting Strain v. Harrelson Rubber Co., 742 F.2d 888 (5th Cir. 1984). A person may reside in multiple states simultaneously, but “[a]n individual who resides in more than one State is regarded, for purposes of federal subject-matter (diversity) jurisdiction, as a citizen of but one State.” Wachovia Bank v. Schmidt, 126 S. Ct. 941, 951 (2006). That is the state in which the person is domiciled. Id.; Acridge v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc., 334 F.3d 444, 451 (Sth Cir. 2003). Citizenship/domicile requires residency in fact and the intent to make the place one’s home. Midcap Media, supra. In order to establish diversity, Plaintiff will need to file an amended complaint to allege McLaurin’s state of domicile. The deadline for the filing of the amended complaint is August 2, 2019. THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 22nd day of July, 2019.

=| Mark L. Hornsby U.S. Magistrate Judge

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