White v. PayPal, Inc. ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 TODD WHITE, Case No. 19-cv-08015-DMR 8 Plaintiff, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE 9 v. 10 PAYPAL, INC., 11 Defendant. 12 On December 6, 2019, Plaintiff Todd White filed a complaint against Defendant PayPal, 13 Inc. (“PayPal”) and an application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”). [Dockets No. 1 (“Compl.”), 2.] The court now orders Mr. White to show cause as to why his complaint should not 14 be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, and a “federal 15 court is presumed to lack jurisdiction in a particular case unless the contrary affirmatively appears.” 16 Stock W., Inc. v. Confederated Tribes, 873 F.2d 1221, 1225 (9th Cir. 1989) (citations omitted). A federal 17 court may exercise either federal question jurisdiction or diversity jurisdiction. Mr. White’s complaint 18 contains only state law claims for breach of contract, fraud, and violations of California Business & 19 Professions Code § 17200, et seq. Because these claims do not give rise to federal question jurisdiction, 20 Mr. White must plead diversity jurisdiction. 21 A district court has diversity jurisdiction where the parties are diverse and “the matter in 22 controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000, exclusive of interests and costs.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332. 23 Parties are diverse only when the parties are “citizens of different states.” Id. A corporation is a citizen 24 of “every State and foreign state by which it has been incorporated and of the State or foreign state where 25 it has its principal place of business.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). The complaint states that Mr. White is a citizen of California and PayPal is a “Delaware corporation.” Compl. ¶¶ 4, 5. It does not explain whether 26 PayPal is incorporated in Delaware, has its principal place of business there, or both. If PayPal is 27 1 diverse and the court lacks diversity jurisdiction. In his response, Mr. White shall explain the citizenship 2 of PayPal, including the state in which it is incorporated and its principal place of business. 3 Mr. White must file a written response to this order to show cause by January 10, 2020. 4 || The court refers Mr. White to the section “Representing Yourself” on the Court’s website, located 5 at http://cand.uscourts.gov/proselitigants, as well as the Court’s Legal Help Centers for 6 unrepresented parties. In San Francisco, the Legal Help Center is located on the 15th Floor, Room 4 2796, of the United States Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco. In Oakland, the g Legal Help Center is located on the 4th Floor, Room 4708S, of the United States Courthouse, 1301 9 Clay Street, Oakland. 10 i IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: December 30, 2019 12 © 13 DONNA M. RYU 14 United States Magistrate Judge 15 16 = 17 Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28