McNulty v. Petco Animal Supply Products, Inc. et al
| KATHRYN McNULTY |
| PETCO ANIMAL SUPPLY PRODUCTS, INC., REDBARN PET PRODUCTS, LLC and THOMAS GALLOY |
| 1:2021cv05043 |
| September 23, 2021 |
| US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois |
| Steven C Seeger |
| Personal Inj. Prod. Liability |
| 28 U.S.C. ยง 1332 |
| Defendant |
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| Filing 7 REMAND with certified copy of order #6 dated 10/13/2021 and letter to Circuit Court of Cook County via email. (ph, ) |
| Filing 6 MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: The Court reviewed the complaint and the notice of removal (Dckt. No. #1 ). Plaintiff brought this action in state court on behalf of her child, who allegedly contracted salmonella from a dog treat at a pet store. Defendants include (1) Petco Animal Supply Products, Inc.; (2) Redbarn Pet Products, LLC; and (3) Thomas Galloy. Defendant Redbarn removed this case based on diversity of citizenship, but the notice of removal is deficient. Plaintiff is a citizen of Illinois. But the information about the citizenship of Defendants is incomplete. Petco is a corporation, which means that it is a citizen of the state of incorporation and of the state where it has its principal place of business. The notice of removal attached a statement showing that Petco is a citizen of Delaware. But the notice of removal merely addressed the state of incorporation (by attaching something from the secretary of state in Delaware). The notice includes no information about where Petco has its principal place of business. So the jurisdictional picture is incomplete. The notice of removal is even more inadequate for the citizenship of Redbarn, the party that removed the case to federal court in the first place. Redbarn claims that it is a citizen of Kansas, and attached a statement showing that it is registered in Kansas. But Redbarn is a limited liability company, not a corporation. And for jurisdictional purposes, the difference is everything. Unlike a corporation, an LLC is not a citizen of the state of registration and state of its principal place of business. Instead, an LLC is a citizen wherever its members are located, as the Seventh Circuit has made clear time and time again. See Belleville Catering Co. v. Champaign Mkt. Place, LLC, 350 F.3d 691, 692 (7th Cir. 2003); Martin v. Living Essentials, LLC, 653 Fed. Appx. 482, 485 (7th Cir. 2016) ("[T]he home 'base' of a limited liability company, or LLC, is irrelevant, given that an LLC has the citizenship of each of its members."); Thomas v. Guardmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir. 2007) ("For diversity jurisdictional purposes, the citizenship of an LLC is the citizenship of each of its members."); Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998) ("[T]he citizenship of an LLC for purposes of the diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its members."); Fellowes, Inc. v. Changzhou Xinrui Fellowes Office Equip. Co., 759 F.3d 787, 787-88 (7th Cir. 2014). But the notice of removal provides no information at all about the members of Redbarn. The Court does not know anything about who the members are, let alone where they have their citizenship. Worse yet, the notice of removal points out that one of the defendants, Thomas Galloy, is a citizen of Illinois (just like Plaintiff). That citizenship would defeat complete diversity. Redbarn tries to get around the jurisdictional problem by claiming fraudulent joinder, but the assertion is purely conclusory. From a jurisdictional perspective, there is no meat on the bone. Overall, the notice of removal is so defective that it warrants immediate remand to state court. This case is remanded to the Circuit Court of Cook County forthwith. Civil case terminated. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) |
| Filing 5 MAILED Notice of Removal letter to counsel of record. (txl, ) |
| Filing 4 ATTORNEY Appearance for Defendant REDBARN PET PRODUCTS, LLC by Dawn M. Gonzalez (Gonzalez, Dawn) |
| Filing 3 ATTORNEY Appearance for Defendant REDBARN PET PRODUCTS, LLC by Matthew Burn Stephens (Stephens, Matthew) |
| Filing 2 ATTORNEY Appearance for Defendant REDBARN PET PRODUCTS, LLC by Amanda Lynn Weinberger (Weinberger, Amanda) |
| Filing 1 NOTICE of Removal from Circuit Court of Cook County, case number (2021 L 006558) filed by REDBARN PET PRODUCTS, LLC Filing fee $ 402, receipt number 0752-18698970. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit A, #2 Exhibit B, #3 Exhibit C, #4 Exhibit D, #5 Civil Cover Sheet)(Weinberger, Amanda) |
| CASE ASSIGNED to the Honorable Steven C. Seeger. Designated as Magistrate Judge the Honorable Sunil R. Harjani. Case assignment: Random assignment. (lma, ) |
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