A resident of a Florida assisted living facility died shortly after contracting COVID-19. The representatives of her estate brought an action in state court against the owners and operators of the facility, alleging that the defendants failed to prevent the spread of the virus at the facility and asserting only state-law claims. The defendants removed…
Category: Jurisdiction
Post-Removal Intervention Destroys Diversity Jurisdiction
Once a case is removed to federal district court on the basis of the diverse citizenship of the original parties, staying there is not guaranteed. Certain subsequent events can still deprive the court of jurisdiction. One such event, Fed. R. Civ. P. 24 intervention of a non-diverse plaintiff, led to a recent Eleventh Circuit decision…
Absence of Final Decision Stymies Class-Certification Appeal
Two named plaintiffs brought a putative class action against AT&T Mobility Services, alleging pregnancy-related discrimination in their employment. The district court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification; the 11th Circuit denied their petition for review under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f); and the two named plaintiffs settled with AT&T Mobility and voluntarily dismissed their…
Ignore the Citizenship of Your LCC Client at Your Peril
When subject-matter jurisdiction is based on diversity, the presence of a limited liability company or a partnership on the pleadings may require a complicated and time-consuming investigation into that party’s citizenship. The Eleventh Circuit’s decision in J.C. Penney Corporation v. Oxford Mall, LLC, No. 22-12461, 2024 WL 1904569 (May 1, 2024), is an example of…
Colorado River Abstention Puts Foreclosure-Related Federal Case On Hold
Eliezer and Valeria Taveras are parties to a series of lawsuits in Florida state court, all concerning real property located in Kissimmee, Florida. In 2008, the property was the subject of an unsuccessful foreclosure action involving the Christiana Trust. Subsequently, the Taverases sought a declaration, also in Florida state court, that the mortgage on the…
Probate Court’s Prior Exclusive Jurisdiction Dooms Federal-Court Injunction
Paul Horn borrowed $500,000 from Noble Prestige Limited to pursue a claim for damages against AT&T for Horn’s sale to AT&T’s predecessor of his ownership share of a telecommuncations platform. Horn agreed to repay Noble $5,000,000 or 5% of his recovery, whichever was greater. In 2014, after receiving the $500,000, Horn filed suit against AT&T…
No Jurisdiction Over Interlocutory Appeal in Employment-Retaliation Case
In Scott v. Advanced Pharmaceutical Consultants, Inc., No. 21-14214, — F.4th —, 2023 WL 6817369 (11th Cir. Oct. 17, 2023), the Eleventh Circuit concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to review an order granting partial summary judgment to the defendants in an employment-retaliation case. After the district court granted summary judgment to the defendants on three…
Rule 41(a) May Only Dismiss an Entire Action, Not a Single Count
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a) outlines the procedure for voluntary dismissals of “an action” at the parties’ request. The Eleventh Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Britt Grant, has again emphasized that “[a]ny attempt to use this rule to dismiss a single claim, or anything less than the entire action will be invalid.”…
Late-Stage Remand of State-Law Claims After Dismissal of Federal Claims Affirmed
Marida Silas brought state and federal claims, on behalf of her late husband, against the Sheriff of Broward County. The defendant removed the case to federal court, which dismissed the federal claims and set the remaining state-law claims for trial. Days before trial, the defendant moved to dismiss the remaining claims on the ground that…
Foreign Parent Company Not Subject to Personal Jurisdiction Based Solely on Actions of Subsidiary, and Expert Testimony Properly Excluded as Unreliable in Products-Liability Case
In the absence of facts supporting piercing the corporate veil or rendering affiliated companies alter egos, the actions of a subsidiary alone cannot subject a foreign parent company to personal jurisdiction in Florida, the Eleventh Circuit recently confirmed. The court’s decision in Knepfle v. J-Tech Corp., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 25781 (11th Cir. Sept. 14,…