Tu v. U-Haul Co. of S.C., Inc.

333 F. Supp. 3d 576
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedAugust 9, 2018
DocketC/A No. 2:18-cv-734-MBS
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 333 F. Supp. 3d 576 (Tu v. U-Haul Co. of S.C., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tu v. U-Haul Co. of S.C., Inc., 333 F. Supp. 3d 576 (D.S.C. 2018).

Opinion

Margaret B. Seymour, Senior United States District Judge

On March 16, 2017, Plaintiff Kueilin Lu Tu filed this negligence action against Defendants U-Haul Co. of South Carolina, Inc. (hereinafter "UHSC") and unknown driver John Doe (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Defendants") in the Court of Common Pleas for Charleston County, South Carolina. Case No. 2017-CP10-1382. Plaintiff alleges that on October 13, 2016, she collided with an unoccupied U-Haul rental truck parked along Interstate 26 in Charleston County, South Carolina. Plaintiff sustained injuries as a result of the accident. See Traffic Collision Report Form, ECF No. 1-4, 13.

On March 14, 2018, Plaintiff amended the complaint to include Defendant U-Haul Co. of North Carolina (hereinafter "UHNC"), after being notified that Plaintiff had named the incorrect U-Haul entity. See ECF No. 1-2. On March 16, 2018, UHNC removed the action to federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Plaintiff is a citizen and resident of the state of South Carolina. UHNC is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of North Carolina. UHSC is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of South Carolina. UHNC asserts that UHSC is fraudulently joined and should be disregarded for purposes of diversity jurisdiction.1

On March 23, 2018, UHSC filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). On March 30, 2018, Plaintiff filed a motion to remand, asserting, among other things, that UHNC has failed to demonstrate that UHSC is an improper Defendant.2 UHNC

*580filed a response in opposition on April 12, 2018. Plaintiff filed a response in opposition to UHSC's motion to dismiss on May 2, 2018. On May 22, 2018, Plaintiff filed a motion to amend the complaint. Defendants filed a joint response in opposition to Plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint on June 5, 2018, to which Plaintiff filed a reply on June 12, 2018.

I. DISCUSSION

A. Motions to Remand

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America , 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994). A defendant is permitted to remove a case to federal court if the court would have had original jurisdiction over the matter. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). A federal court has "original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or the value of $75,000 and is between citizens of different states." 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). Complete diversity of citizenship must exist between the parties, meaning that no party on one side may be a citizen of the same state as any party on the other side. See Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Servs., Inc. , 545 U.S. 546, 125 S.Ct. 2611, 162 L.Ed.2d 502 (2005). In cases in which the district court's jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship, the burden of establishing federal jurisdiction rests upon the party seeking removal. Strawn v. AT & T Mobility LLC , 530 F.3d 293, 298 (4th Cir. 2008). "Because courts are forums of limited jurisdiction, any doubt as to whether a case belongs in federal or state court should be resolved in favor of state court." Messex v. Quicken Loans, Inc. , C/A No. 2:15-cv-04773-JMC, 2016 WL 3597597, at *2 (D.S.C. July 5, 2016).

B. Fraudulent Joinder

The doctrine of fraudulent joinder permits a federal court to "disregard, for jurisdictional purposes, the citizenship of certain non-diverse defendants, assume jurisdiction over a case, dismiss the non-diverse defendants, and thereby retain jurisdiction." Flores v. Ethicon, Inc. , 563 F. App'x 266, 269 (4th Cir. 2014). "To establish that a defendant has been fraudulently joined, the removing party must establish either: (1) that there is no possibility that the plaintiff would be able to establish a cause of action against the in-state defendant in state court; or (2) that there has been outright fraud in the plaintiff's pleading of jurisdictional facts." Flores , 563 F. App'x at 269 (citing Marshall v. Manville Sales Corp. , 6 F.3d 229, 232 (4th Cir. 1993) ). "The burden of showing no possibility of relief is heavy." Id. at 269. "The removing party 'must show that the plaintiff cannot establish a claim against the non-diverse defendant even after resolving all issues of fact and law in plaintiff's favor.' " Id. (citing Marshall , 6 F.3d at 232 ).

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Bluebook (online)
333 F. Supp. 3d 576, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tu-v-u-haul-co-of-sc-inc-scd-2018.