Santiago v. Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District ( 2023 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA DANIELLE SANTIAGO CIVIL ACTION VER SUS NO. 22-4688 LOUISIANA STADIUM AND EXPOSITION SECTION: “G” DISTRICT, et al. ORDER This litigation arises from an alleged slip and fall on an escalator in the Caesars Superdome.1 Considering this Court’s Order granting a motion to remand a similar slip and fall case where Defendant Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District (“LSED”) is a named defendant, this Court questions the grounds of jurisdiction asserted in the above-captioned matter.2 Even if the plaintiff does not file a motion to remand, the Court must address the jurisdictional issue sua sponte, because a “party may neither consent to nor waive federal subject matter jurisdiction.”3 “[S]ubject matter delineations must be policed by the courts on their own initiative.”4 The Court must remand the case to state court “[i]f at any time before final judgment it appears that the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.”5 For the reasons articulated in the Court’s remand Order in Pittman v. Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District,6 1 Rec. Doc. 1 at 2. 2 Pittman v. La. Stadium & Exposition District et al., No. 22-3723, Rec. Doc. 24 (Remand Order). Plaintiff brings a virtually identical lawsuit against the same Defendants as the plaintiff in Pittman, and Defendants also removed this matter to this Court alleging the requirements for diversity jurisdiction are satisfied. See Rec. Doc. 1 at 1–2, Pittman, No. 22-3723; Rec. Doc. 1 at 1–3. “Federal courts are duty-bound to examine the basis of subject matter jurisdiction sua sponte.” Union Planters Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Salih, 369 F.3d 457, 460 (5th Cir. 2004). 3 Simon v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 193 F.3d 848, 850 (5th Cir. 1999). 4 Gasch v. Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co., 491 F.3d 278, 281 (5th Cir. 2007). 5 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). 6 Pittman, No. 22-3723, Rec. Doc. 24 (Remand Order). IT IS ORDERED that the above captioned case is remanded to the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana. NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, this 21st day of March, 2023. NANNETTE J Dele BROWN CHIEF JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT