STARK, U.S. District Judge:
Pending before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion to Remand to the Superior Court of Delaware. (D.I.7) ("Motion") Briefing on the motion was completed on July 8, 2015. (D.I.8, 12, 13) The Court heard argument on the motion on October 9, 2015. (Oct. 9, 2015 Hearing Transcript) (hereinafter Tr.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny the Motion.
On March 19, 2015, plaintiff Marlin Johnson ("Plaintiff'), a resident of Florida, filed a civil action against defendants Organo Gold International, Inc., Organo Gold International LLC, and Organo Gold Management Inc. (collectively. "Organo" or "Defendants"), in the Superior Court of Delaware in and for New Castle County. (See D.I. 1 at 2) In his complaint (see D.I. 1, Ex. A at 8-23) (hereinafter "Complaint"), Plaintiff alleges that he suffered
On May 15, 2015, Defendant filed a notice of removal in this Court, contending this Court has subject matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), and the Class Action Fairness Act ("CAFA"). 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d). (See id. at 1, 3-7) On May 29, 2015, Plaintiff filed the Motion (D.I.7), arguing that there is no diversity of citizenship between the parties and that Defendants have not shown that the amount in controversy exceeds the $75,000 jurisdictional threshold, and further that jurisdiction does not exist under CAFA because Defendants have not made an adequate showing that the aggregated amount in controversy is in excess of $5,000,000 (see D.I. 8 at 2).
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, a defendant in a state court proceeding may have the right to remove such a case to federal court if, based upon the face of the filed pleadings, subject matter jurisdiction would have existed in federal court for the plaintiff's claims. Where federal subject matter jurisdiction is based on diversity, there must be both complete diversity of the parties and the requisite jurisdictional amount of at least $75,000. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). Where federal subject matter jurisdiction is based on CAFA, there must be at least minimal diversity of the parties and the requisite jurisdictional amount of greater than $5,000,000. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d).
With respect to diversity, a case "may not be removed if any of the parties in interest properly joined and served as defendants is a citizen of the State in which such action is brought." 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c), "a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of every State and foreign state by which it has been incorporated and of the State or foreign state where it has its principal place of business...."
With respect to amount in controversy, on a motion to remand "[i]t must appear to a legal certainty that the claim is really for less than the jurisdictional amount to justify dismissal." St. Paul Mercury Indem. Co. v. Red Cab Co., 303 U.S. 283, 289, 58 S.Ct. 586, 82 L.Ed. 845 (1938), superceded by statute on other grounds, Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act, Pub.L. No. 100-702, tit. X, § 1016(c), 102 Stat. 4670 (1988). Generally, the amount in controversy is determined by the complaint itself. See Horton v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 367 U.S. 348, 353, 81 S.Ct. 1570, 6 L.Ed.2d 890 (1961). Where the amount in controversy is ambiguous in the pleadings, the Court must conduct its own independent appraisal of the allegations to determine whether the value of claims exceeds the jurisdictional amount. See Angus v. Shiley Inc., 989 F.2d 142, 146 (3d Cir.1993). "The amount in controversy is not measured by
The removal statute is "strictly construed against removal [with] all doubts... resolved in favor of remand." Boyer v. Snap-On Tools Corp., 913 F.2d 108, 111 (3d Cir.1990).
The Court concludes that complete diversity of citizenship exists because Plaintiff is a resident of Florida and Defendants are Nevada business entities. (See Complaint at ¶¶ 3-4) These facts are not disputed. (Tr. at 8) Further, although Plaintiff prays for an indeterminate amount of compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys' fees, he alleges that he suffered serious medical injuries, requiring him "to be resuscitated with multiple blood and platelet transfusions and undergo an emergency surgery." (Complaint at ¶¶ 1, 9) Plaintiff does not dispute that the value of his own personal injury claim exceeds $75,000. (Tr. at 7-8) Thus, with respect to Plaintiff's individual personal injury claim, it is more likely than not that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. Accordingly, the Court has original jurisdiction over at least Plaintiff's individual personal injury claim.
The Court's analysis turns next to whether supplemental jurisdiction exists over the claims of the absent class members. Plaintiff argues that his own personal injury cannot be used to impart subject matter jurisdiction over the absent class members, whose injuries are unknown. (See, e.g., D.I. 8 at 6, 8)
In taking this view, Plaintiff relies on the Third Circuit's decision in Packard v. Provident Nat'l Bank, 994 F.2d 1039, 1045 (3d. Cir.1993) (citing Zahn v. Int'l Paper Co., 414 U.S. 291, 301, 94 S.Ct. 505, 38 L.Ed.2d 511 (1973)), which to Plaintiff stands for the proposition that "in a diversity-based class action, ... each member of the class must claim at least the jurisdictional amount." However, Defendant correctly points out that, as held by Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Servs., Inc., 545 U.S. 546, 566-67, 125 S.Ct. 2611, 162 L.Ed.2d 502 (2005), Zahn — on which the Third Circuit relied in Packard — was overruled when Congress amended § 1367 to authorize supplemental jurisdiction in class actions "where some, but not all, of the plaintiff's in a diversity action allege a sufficient amount in controversy." Allapattah further provides that CAFA "does not moot the significance of our interpretation of § 1367, as many proposed exercises of supplemental jurisdiction, even in the class-action context, might not fall within the CAFA's ambit." Id. at 572, 125 S.Ct. 2611.
Plaintiff argues that Allapattah is inapposite because it only authorizes supplemental jurisdiction over "the claims of other plaintiff's in the same Article III case or controversy," id. at 549, 125 S.Ct. 2611, yet here "Mr. Johnson's personal injury claim
Claims are part of the same case or controversy when they derive from a "common nucleus of operative facts." United Mine Workers of Am. v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 725, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966); see also Lyon v. Whisman, 45 F.3d 758, 760 (3d. Cir.1995), superceded by statute on other grounds, 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3) (citing Gibbs). Although Plaintiff concedes that his personal injury claim shares common operative facts with the claims of the absent class members, he maintains that these shared facts do not form the
Nothing in the Complaint distinguishes Plaintiff's injuries from those of the absent class members. To the contrary, the Complaint essentially links the injuries to Plaintiff and to the class members by alleging "Defendants' negligence in failing to give adequate warnings, instructions or ingredient content information to consumers... caused and will continue to cause injury to Plaintiff Marlin Johnson and others similarly situated." (Complaint at ¶ 39) Elsewhere, the Complaint similarly alleges: "The breach of these warranties caused serious bodily injuries to Marlin Johnson, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated." (Id. at ¶ 31) Moreover, paragraph 18 of the Complaint expressly provides:
(Id. at ¶ 18) (second emphasis added) The allegation that "[t]he harm that Defendants have caused or could cause is substantially uniform with respect to Class members" is one that the Court takes as true at this stage of the proceedings.
Plaintiff concedes that he "ha[s] not pled a physical injury claim that is unrelated to or not dependent on an underlying misrepresentation." (Tr. at 35) Hence, the Court agrees with Defendants that the factual basis for all of the claims is that Organo's products do not warn about the purported health risks of Ganoderma Lucidum or disclose how much Ganoderma Lucidum is in each product. Because the claims share a common nucleus of operative fact, they are all part of the same case or controversy, and Plaintiff cannot escape Allapattah's holding that § 1367 authorizes supplemental jurisdiction over class actions "where some, but not all, of the plaintiff's... allege a sufficient amount in controversy." 545 U.S. at 566, 125 S.Ct. 2611.
Accordingly, the Court finds that original jurisdiction based on diversity exists over all of the claims in this case, and it has been properly removed to federal court. Having reached this conclusion, the Court need not further decide whether jurisdiction exists based on CAFA.
An appropriate order will be entered.
At Wilmington this
For the reasons set forth in the Memorandum Opinion issued this same date,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff Marlin Johnson's Motion to Remand (D.I.7) is
2. The parties shall meet and confer and submit a joint status report, including their proposal(s) for further proceedings and/or order(s), no later than December 1, 2015.