STEVEN D. MERRYDAY, District Judge.
In October 2013, Stericycle agreed to provide Scrap King with several thousand pounds of "recycleable material" each month. (Doc. 2 at 7-11, the Stericyle-Scrap King contract) Under the contract, "recycleable material" excludes "regulated medical waste." (Doc. 2 at 7) Alleging that Stericyle furnished regulated medical waste, A&M Metals Processing sued Stericyle in state court for breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, and negligence. Stericycle removes (Doc. 1) the action and invokes diversity jurisdiction. Arguing that A&M "lacks standing" to sue Stericycle for breach of contract and fraudulent inducement and arguing that the "independent tort rule" bars the negligence and fraudulent inducement claims, Stericyle moves (Doc. 8) to dismiss "the complaint" with prejudice under Rule 12(b)(6), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Despite moving under Rule 12(b)(6) to dismiss the complaint, Stericycle argues that A&M is not the real party in interest to this action. (Doc. 8 at 5, for example, stating that "A&M does not have standing to sue Stericycle for breach of contract") Rule 17 requires prosecution of an action by the "real party in interest," that is, the owner of the right "enforced through the litigation." Moore's Federal Practice, Vol. 4 § 17.10 (Matthew Bender 3d ed.). In a diversity action, state law determines the real party in interest. United States v. 936.71 Acres of Land, More or Less, in Brevard Cty., 418 F.2d 551, 556 (5th Cir. 1969).
Under Illinois law, which governs the claim for breach of contract (Doc. 2 at 9), a contracting party, a third-party beneficiary, or an assignee can sue for breach of contract.
(Doc. 2, the Stericyle-Scrap King contract at 3) Because the complaint contains no allegation that Scrap King assigned the contract to A&M and that Stericyle consented in writing to the assignment, A&M fails to state a claim for breach of contract and cannot sue Stericycle for breach of the Stericycle-Scrap King contract.
The parties agree that Florida law governs a tort claim in this action. Under Florida law, a defendant fraudulently induces a plaintiff to contract by knowingly misrepresenting a material fact on which the defendant intended the plaintiff to rely and on which the plaintiff reasonably relied in contracting. Johnson v. Davis, 480 So.2d 625, 627 (Fla. 1985). Because Scrap King, not A&M, contracted with Stericyle, A&M fails to state a claim for fraudulent inducement and cannot sue Stericycle for fraudulent inducement.
To establish that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, Stericycle's notice of removal appears to rely exclusively on damages attendant to A&M's claims for breach of contract and fraudulent inducement. (Doc. 1 at 4-7) Because A&M is not the real party in interest to the claims for breach of contract and fraudulent inducement, Stericycle cannot rely on damages from those claims to establish the amount in controversy. Ryan v. Flame Refractories, Inc., 759 F.Supp. 774, 777-78 (S.D. Ala. 1991) (Butler, J.) (citing Myers v. Long Island Lighting Co., 623 F.Supp. 1076 (E.D.N.Y. 1985) (Wexler, J.)). No later than
Linda Zalkin moves (Doc. 17) to intervene under Rule 24. Zalkin, who purportedly owns the property onto which Scrap King deposited Stericycle's medical waste, leases the property to A&M. (Doc. 17) Under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(b), a prospective intervenor who asserts a claim in a diversity action must invoke diversity jurisdiction, but Zalkin fails to state her citizenship, Stericycle's citizenship, or A&M's citizenship and fails to show that the amount in controversy from Zalkin's claim exceeds $75,000. Additionally, Rule 24(c) requires a prospective intervenor to submit "a pleading that sets out the claim or defense for which intervention is sought," but Zalkin fails to submit a pleading. Zalkin's motion to intervene warrants denial for failure to invoke diversity jurisdiction, failure to comply with Rule 24's pleading requirement, and failure to comply with Local Rule 3.01(g).
Neither a party to the Scrap King-Stericyle contract nor an assignee of Scrap King's rights under the contract, A&M cannot sue Stericycle for allegedly breaching the Stericycle-Scrap King contract or for fraudulently inducing Scrap King to contract with Stericycle. The motion (Doc. 8) to dismiss is
ORDERED.