Norma Garcia v. PVH Neckwear, Inc. ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 NORMA GARCIA, an ) CV 20-4083-RSWL-SK individual, ) 13 ) Plaintiff, ) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: 14 ) SUBJECT MATTER ) JURISDICTION 15 v. ) ) 16 ) PVH NECKWEAR, INC., a ) 17 Delaware corporation; PVH ) CORP., a Delaware ) 18 corporation; USA-PVH ) NECKWEAR INC., an entity of ) 19 unknown form; PHILLIPS-VAN ) HEUSEN CORPORATION, an ) 20 entity of unknown form; and ) DOES 1 through 20, ) 21 inclusive, ) ) 22 ) Defendants. ) 23 Defendants PVH Neckwear, Inc. and PVH Corp., 24 formerly Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, (collectively 25 “Defendants”) filed their Notice of Removal [1] on May 26 4, 2020. In their Notice of Removal, with regard to 27 the citizenship of Plaintiff Norma Garcia 28 1 (“Plaintiff”), Defendants stated, “At all relevant 2 times, Plaintiff was a citizen of California.” Not. of 3 Removal ¶ 9, ECF No. 1. In support of diversity 4 jurisdiction, Defendants direct the Court to paragraph 5 two of the Complaint, which merely claims that 6 “Plaintiff . . . is and at all times relevant hereto 7 was a resident of the County of Los Angeles, State of 8 California.” Not. of Removal, Attachment #1 (“Compl.”) 9 ¶ 2, ECF No. 1-1. To invoke diversity jurisdiction, 10 Defendants must prove complete diversity of citizenship 11 between the parties. 28 U.S.C. § 1332. A natural 12 person’s state citizenship is “determined by her state 13 of domicile, not her state of residence.” Kanter v. 14 Warner-Lambert Co., 265 F.3d 853, 857 (9th Cir. 2001). 15 /// 16 /// 17 /// 18 /// 19 /// 20 /// 21 /// 22 /// 23 /// 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 A notice of removal “alleging diversity of 2 citizenship upon information and belief is 3 insufficient” to prove complete diversity. Bradford v. 4 Mitchell Bros. Truck Lines, 217 F. Supp. 525, 527 (N.D. 5 Cal. 1963); see Doherty v. Ocwen Fin. Corp., No. CV 6 14-7118 PA (Ex), 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131247, at *4 7 (C.D. Cal. Sep. 16, 2014) (remanding case when the 8 defendant alleged the plaintiffs’ citizenship based 9 solely on “information and belief”). As such, 10 Defendants are HEREBY ORDERED to show, in writing, on 11 or before June 4, 2020, evidence of Plaintiff’s 12 citizenship or this Action will be remanded. 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 15 DATED: May 21, 2020 /s/ Ronald S.W. Lew 16 HONORABLE RONALD S.W. LEW Senior U.S. District Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28