The Travelers Indemnity Company v. Johnson

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA HAMMOND DIVISION AT LAFAYETTE

THE TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY,

Plaintiff,

v. CAUSE NO.: 4:17-CV-86-TLS-JEM

BRITTANY M. JOHNSON,

Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

This matter is before the Court sua sponte. The Court must continuously police its subject matter jurisdiction. Hay v. Ind. State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs, 312 F.3d 876, 879 (7th Cir. 2002). The Complaint alleges that the Court’s original subject matter jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. (Compl. ¶ 6, ECF No. 1.) Diversity jurisdiction exists when the parties to an action on each side are citizens of different states, with no defendant a citizen of the same state as any plaintiff, and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). As the party seeking to invoke this Court’s jurisdiction, the Plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that the jurisdictional requirements have been met. Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77, 96 (2010); Smart v. Local 702 Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 562 F.3d 798, 802–03 (7th Cir. 2009). A failure to meet that burden can result in a dismissal. See Mut. Assignment & Indem. Co. v. Lind-Waldock & Co., LLC, 364 F.3d 858, 861 (7th Cir. 2004). In this case, the Plaintiff has sufficiently alleged the citizenship of the Defendant and that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. However, the Complaint alleges that the Plaintiff, The Travelers Indemnity Company, “is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Connecticut and was at all relevant times authorized to do business in the State of Indiana.” (Compl. ¶ 2.) This allegation of citizenship is deficient because a corporation is a citizen of every state and foreign state in which it has been incorporated and the state or foreign state where it has its principal place of business. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1); see also Hertz Corp., 559 U.S. at 92–93 (holding that the term “principal place of business” refers to the corporation’s “nerve center,” that is, the place where a corporation’s officers

direct, control, and coordinate the corporation’s activities). The Plaintiff has not alleged its principal place of business. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS the Plaintiff to FILE, on or before, July 2, 2019, a supplemental jurisdictional statement properly identifying the citizenship of The Travelers Indemnity Company on November 2, 2017, the date the Complaint was filed. SO ORDERED on June 18, 2019.

s/ Theresa L. Springmann CHIEF JUDGE THERESA L. SPRINGMANN UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT