Danny Ray Palomo v. General Motors, LLC et al.

Summary

The court denied Plaintiff Danny Ray Palomo’s motion to remand an action against General Motors LLC. It held that removal based on diversity jurisdiction was timely and that the defendant established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000.

Holdings

1. Removal was timely because the initial complaint was indeterminate as to the amount in controversy and therefore did not trigger the first thirty-day removal period. The documents produced on September 8, 2025 could trigger the second thirty-day period, and removal on October 8, 2025 was within that period.
2. General Motors established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000.
3. The MMWA claim did not independently make removal timely because the complaint was indeterminate as to whether the Act's $50,000 amount-in-controversy threshold was satisfied.

Questions Presented

1. Whether General Motors timely removed the action under the thirty-day removal periods in 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b), or within the one-year period under § 1446(c), where the complaint did not make the amount in controversy ascertainable.
2. Whether General Motors established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000 for diversity jurisdiction.
3. Whether the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claim made federal-question jurisdiction and removability clear from the face of the complaint despite the Act's amount-in-controversy threshold.

Disposition

other