Theresa B. Bradley v. Kelly Services, Inc.

224 F. App'x 893
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 19, 2007
Docket06-13815
StatusUnpublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 224 F. App'x 893 (Theresa B. Bradley v. Kelly Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Theresa B. Bradley v. Kelly Services, Inc., 224 F. App'x 893 (11th Cir. 2007).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Theresa B. Bradley, proceeding pro se, filed suit against Kelly Services, Inc. (“Kelly”) for breach of contract, fraud, and negligent supervision of employees, seeking “compensatory and exemplary damages,” including embarrassment, humiliation, loss of professional stature, loss of credit worthiness and interference with her banking relationship. She now appeals the district court’s order dismissing her complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because she failed to support her assertion that her claims exceeded the $75,000 jurisdictional threshold. In her complaint, which asserted diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, Bradley alleged that as a result of the failure on the part of Kelly to deposit her paycheck for the week of July 4, 2004 in a timely manner, she suffered damages in excess of $75,000. She argues that the allegations in her complaint were sufficient to establish diversity jurisdiction, and that the district court violated her equal protection and due process rights by failing to ensure timely receipt of its order to show cause why the case should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, thereby denying her an opportunity to respond. She also appeals the district court’s denial of her motion to disqualify the presiding judge and her motions to compel production of documents.

Discussion

A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

We review a district court’s dismissal of a complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction de novo. Federated Mut. Ins. Co. v. McKinnon Motors, LLC, 329 F.3d 805, 807 (11th Cir.2003). “A federal court not only has the power but also the obligation at any time to inquire into jurisdiction whenever the possibility that jurisdiction does not exist arises.” Fitzgerald v. Seaboard Sys. R.R., Inc., 760 F.2d 1249, 1251 (11th Cir.1985). “Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. In order to *895 invoke a federal court’s diversity jurisdiction, a plaintiff must claim, among other things, that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.” Federated Mut. Ins., 829 F.3d at 807 (quotation and citation omitted); see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). “Dismissal of a case brought under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 is proper where the pleadings make it clear to a legal certainty that the claim is really for less than the jurisdictional amount.” Leonard v. Enterprise Rent a Car, 279 F.3d 967, 972 (11th Cir.2002) (quotation omitted). “However, where jurisdiction is based on a claim for indeterminate damages, the ... 'legal certainty' test gives way, and the party seeking to invoke federal jurisdiction bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the claim on which it is basing jurisdiction meets the jurisdictional minimum.” Federated Mut. Ins., 329 F.3d at 807. “A conclusory allegation ... that the jurisdictional amount is satisfied, without setting forth the underlying facts supporting such an assertion, is insufficient to meet the [plaintiffs] burden.” See Leonard, 279 F.3d at 972 (quotation omitted)(addressing removal from state court); see also Federated Mut. Ins., 329 F.3d at 809 (noting that a party’s mere speculation that the amount in controversy met the jurisdictional threshold did not satisfy its burden of proving beyond a preponderance of the evidence the claim at issue exceeded $75,000).

A de novo review of the record reveals that Bradley failed to meet her burden of proving beyond a preponderance of the evidence that her claim exceeds the jurisdictional threshold amount of $75,000. Aside from her conclusory assertions that her damages exceed $75,000, Bradley has only presented evidence consisting of copies of her resume, documentation relating to her professional training and current legal studies, as well as legal briefs filed in another pending lawsuit. Bradley has not presented any calculations as to the amount of loss resulting from Kelly’s alleged misconduct. While she made general allegations that she suffered damages, Bradley never quantified these losses with any specific dollar figures. Accordingly, Bradley, at best, is speculating that her damages would exceed $75,000 and, thus, she has not met her burden. We affirm as to this issue.

B. Court’s Duty to Provide Notice

Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 77(d), the clerk of court immediately upon the entry of an order or judgment “shall serve a notice of the entry in the manner provided for in Rule 5(b) upon each party who is not in default for failure to appear, and shall make a note in the docket of the service.” Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 5(b)(2)(B), service is made by “[m]ailing a copy to the last known address of the person served. Service by mail is complete on mailing.” “Notification by the clerk is merely for the convenience of the litigants.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 77 advisory committee’s note; see also In re Morrow, 502 F.2d 520, 522 (5th Cir.1974).

In Dunlap v. Transamerica Occidental Life Ins. Co., we held “that Fed.R.Civ.P. 77(d) deems mailing of such notices by the clerk to be notice to a party, whether or not the notice is actually received or actually noticed by the party.” 858 F.2d 629, 632 (11th Cir.1988). Moreover, we concluded that “[a]ll 77(d) requires is that ‘upon the entry of an order or judgment the clerk shall serve a notice of the entry by mail in the manner provided for in Rule 5’ [which] provides that service by mail is complete upon mailing.” Id. (quoting Fed. R.Civ.P. 77(d)). Furthermore, we noted in Dunlap that there was no contention that a copy of the order in question was not actually mailed by the clerk, only a contention that it was not received. Id. at 633.

In this case, Bradley’s argument that her due process and equal protection *896 rights were violated by the court’s alleged failure to ensure timely receipt of the order to show cause is foreclosed by our holding in Dunlap

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224 F. App'x 893, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/theresa-b-bradley-v-kelly-services-inc-ca11-2007.