Freeman v. Midkiff ( 2024 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA JARED FREEMAN CIVIL ACTION VERSUS NO. 23-3675 MICHAEL MIDKIFF et al. SECTION: “G”(4) ORDER On April 11, 2024, this Court issued an Order for the parties to show cause by April 19, 2024 why this matter should not be remanded to the 24th Judicial District Court for the Parish of Jefferson, State of Louisiana for lack of complete diversity under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.1 On August 18, 2023 Defendants McCormick Trucking, Inc. and Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut removed the case to this Court based on diversity jurisdiction, asserting that the citizenship of Defendant Michael Midkiff (“Midkiff”) could not be considered in the diversity analysis because Plaintiff was unable to serve Midkiff at several Louisiana addresses.2 However, Midkiff was served with the Petition at a Louisiana address on February 10, 2024.3 On April 10, 2024, Midkiff filed a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1 Disclosure Statement, stating that he “is a citizen of Louisiana.”4 Diversity, as prescribed by Section 1332, requires that “all persons on one side of the controversy be citizens of different states than all persons on the other 1 Rec. Doc. 16. 2 Rec. Doc. 1. 3 Rec. Doc. 10. 4 Rec. Doc. 15. side.” To date, no party has responded to Court’s Show Cause Order. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this case is remanded to the 24" Judicial District Court for the Parish of Jefferson, State of Louisiana. NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, this ISt day of May, 2024. UB. CHIEF JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077, 1079 (5th Cir. 2008) (internal quotation marks omitted).