Salomon Hernandez v. General Motors LLC

Summary

The court denied Plaintiff Salomon Hernandez’s motion to remand an action against General Motors LLC involving Song-Beverly Act and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claims. The court held that removal was timely and that Defendant established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000 based on actual damages and potential civil penalties.

Holdings

1. The initial complaint was indeterminate as to the amount in controversy because it did not allege the vehicle's value or information needed to calculate statutory offsets. Therefore, the first thirty-day removal period under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(1) did not begin upon receipt of the complaint.
2. A pre-complaint document containing a jurisdictional clue cannot combine with an indeterminate initial pleading to create a hybrid first-and-second removal period.
3. To the extent the purchase agreement and loan payoff letter produced on August 25, 2025 triggered a second thirty-day removal period, General Motors's September 5, 2025 removal was timely.
4. The MMWA claim did not make removability clear from the complaint because the complaint was indeterminate as to the damages necessary to satisfy the MMWA's $50,000 amount-in-controversy threshold.
5. General Motors established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000.

Questions Presented

1. Whether General Motors's removal was untimely because the initial complaint or pre-complaint settlement materials triggered a thirty-day removal period under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b).
2. Whether the complaint's Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claim made federal-question jurisdiction clear enough to trigger the thirty-day removal period.
3. Whether General Motors established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000 for diversity jurisdiction.

Disposition

other