Hoff v. Walmart, Inc. et al
| Renee Hoff |
| Walmart, Inc., Walmart Real Estate Business Trust, Wal-Mart Stores East LP and Wal-Mart Associates, Inc |
| 3:2020cv01687 |
| November 10, 2020 |
| US District Court for the District of Connecticut |
| Michael P Shea |
| P.I.: Other |
| 28 U.S.C. ยง 1332 |
| Defendant |
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This docket was last retrieved on December 1, 2020. A more recent docket listing may be available from PACER.
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Filing 10
ORDER. On November 10, 2020, defendants filed a notice of removal. (ECF No. 1). On November 12, 2020, after identifying jurisdictional defects in the pleadings, the Court ordered that "defendants shall file a statement on the docket adequately alleging the citizenship of the plaintiff and defendants Wal-Mart Stores East, LP and Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust" for the purpose of verifying the Court's jurisdiction no later than November 26, 2020. (ECF No. 9). Defendants were warned that the "[f]ailure to respond to this order or to adequately allege citizenship for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction as required by this order will result in a remand of this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction." (Id.). To date, defendants have not responded to the Court's 9 order. As a result, the Clerk is directed to remand this action to state court and close the case. Signed by Judge Michael P. Shea on 12/1/2020. (Super, John)
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| JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS SURVEY - FOR COUNSEL ONLY: The following link to the confidential survey requires you to log into CM/ECF for SECURITY purposes. Once in CM/ECF you will be prompted for the case number. Although you are receiving this survey through CM/ECF, it is hosted on an independent website called SurveyMonkey. Once in SurveyMonkey, the survey is located in a secure account. The survey is not docketed and it is not sent directly to the judge. To ensure anonymity, completed surveys are held up to 90 days before they are sent to the judge for review. We hope you will take this opportunity to participate, please click on this link: https://ecf.ctd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/Dispatch.pl?survey (Johnson, D.) |
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Filing 9
ORDER. In its #1 notice of removal, the defendants allege diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1332. Courts have an "independent duty to examine [their] jurisdiction." United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 919 v. Centermark Props. Meriden Square, 30 F.3d 298, 301 (2d Cir. 1994). "If subject matter jurisdiction is lacking and no party has called the matter to the court's attention, the court has the duty to dismiss the action sua sponte." Durant, Nichols, Houston, Hodgson & Cortese-Costa P.C. v. Dupont, 565 F.3d 56, 62 (2d Cir. 2009). The Court does not find sufficient allegations to support diversity jurisdiction.The defendants' notice of removal alleges that the plaintiff is a "resident" of Connecticut, ECF No. 1 at 2, but neither the notice of removal nor any other document makes any allegations regarding the plaintiff's citizenship, which is different from mere residence. To be a citizen of a state for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction, an individual "must both be a citizen of the United States and be domiciled within the State." Newman-Green, Inc. v. Alfonzo-Larrain, 490 U.S. 826, 828 (1989). In addition, defendants' notice of removal also fails to adequately allege the citizenship of defendants Walmart Stores East, LP (alleging only that "its principal place of business [is] in Bentonville, Arkansas") and Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust (alleging only that it is "a business trust duly license[d] and registered under the laws of the State of Delaware, with a principal place of business in Bentonville, Arkansas."). But the citizenship of a limited partnership is determined by the citizenship of all the members of the limited partnership. See Carden v. Arkoma Assocs., 494 U.S. 185, 195-96 (1990) (holding that, for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a limited partnership takes the citizenship of all of its partners, and deciding to "adhere to [its] oft-repeated rule that diversity jurisdiction in a suit by or against the entity depends on the citizenship of all the members") (internal quotation marks omitted). Likewise, the citizenship of an unincorporated business trust, as Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust appears to be, also is determined by the citizenship of its members. See Americold Realty Tr. v. Conagra Foods, Inc., 136 S. Ct. 1012, 1015 (2016) (reaffirming the Court's holding that, for unincorporated entities, diversity jurisdiction in a suit by or against such an entity depends on the citizenship of all its members; and holding that the citizenship of an unincorporated "real estate investment trust" organized under the laws of Maryland included the citizenship of its shareholders for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction)."[T]he party who seeks the exercise of jurisdiction" in federal courts "must allege in his pleading the facts essential to show jurisdiction." McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S. 178, 189 (1936). Therefore, within 14 days of this order, defendants shall file a statement on the docket adequately alleging the citizenship of the plaintiff and defendants Wal-Mart Stores East, LP and Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust. If the defendants cannot do so, they may take limited jurisdictional discovery aimed at identifying citizenship. Failure to respond to this order or to adequately allege citizenship for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction as required by this order will result in a remand of this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.Signed by Judge Michael P. Shea on 11/12/2020. (Super, John)
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| Filing 8 NOTICE TO COUNSEL/SELF-REPRESENTED PARTIES : Counsel or self-represented parties initiating or removing this action are responsible for serving all parties with attached documents and copies of #2 Notice (Other) filed by Walmart Real Estate Business Trust, Walmart, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, #6 Electronic Filing Order, #3 Corporate Disclosure Statement filed by Walmart Real Estate Business Trust, Walmart, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, #5 Order on Pretrial Deadlines, #4 Notice (Other) filed by Walmart Real Estate Business Trust, Walmart, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, #1 Notice of Removal, filed by Walmart Real Estate Business Trust, Walmart, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, #7 Protective Order Signed by Clerk on 11/10/2020. (Attachments: #1 Standing Order on Removed Cases) (Peterson, M) |
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Filing 7
STANDING PROTECTIVE ORDER Signed by Judge Michael P. Shea on 11/10/2020. (Peterson, M)
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Filing 6
ELECTRONIC FILING ORDER FOR COUNSEL - PLEASE ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH COURTESY COPY REQUIREMENTS IN THIS ORDER Signed by Judge Michael P. Shea on 11/10/2020. (Peterson, M)
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Filing 5
Order on Pretrial Deadlines: Amended Pleadings due by 1/9/2021. Discovery due by 5/12/2021. Dispositive Motions due by 6/16/2021. Signed by Clerk on 11/10/2020. (Peterson, M)
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| Filing 4 NOTICE by Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Walmart Real Estate Business Trust, Walmart, Inc. Cert. of Filing of Copy of Srv. of Removal in State Court (Lai, Janice) |
| Filing 3 Corporate Disclosure Statement by Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Walmart Real Estate Business Trust, Walmart, Inc.. (Lai, Janice) |
| Filing 2 NOTICE by Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Walmart Real Estate Business Trust, Walmart, Inc. Statement of No Pending Motions (Lai, Janice) |
| Filing 1 NOTICE OF REMOVAL by Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Walmart, Inc., Walmart Real Estate Business Trust from New Haven Superior Court, case number NNH-CV-20-6108762-S. Filing fee $ 400 receipt number ACTDC-6212372, filed by Wal-Mart Associates, Inc, Wal-Mart Stores East LP, Walmart, Inc., Walmart Real Estate Business Trust.(Lai, Janice) |
| Judge Michael P. Shea added. (Nuzzi, Tiffany) |
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