Catalina Suarez v. General Motors LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive

Summary

The United States District Court for the Central District of California denied Catalina Suarez’s motion to remand her Song-Beverly Act and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act action against General Motors LLC. The court held that the complaint did not make removability apparent on its face, so the thirty-day removal period was not triggered upon service. The court further found that General Motors established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded the applicable federal jurisdictional thresholds.

Holdings

1. Removal was timely because the complaint did not clearly establish from its face that the amount in controversy exceeded either the $50,000 Magnuson-Moss threshold or the $75,000 diversity threshold. General Motors was not obligated to remove within thirty days after service of the complaint.
2. The sales agreement was an 'other paper' from which General Motors could ascertain that removal was proper, and General Motors was not required to remove before receiving that document.
3. General Motors established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $50,000 for Magnuson-Moss jurisdiction and $75,000 for diversity jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether General Motors timely removed the action under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b), where the initial complaint did not state a specific purchase price or amount in controversy but a later-produced sales agreement supplied that information.
2. Whether the complaint or subsequent sales agreement made federal jurisdiction ascertainable for purposes of the thirty-day removal period.
3. Whether General Motors established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $50,000 for Magnuson-Moss jurisdiction and $75,000 for diversity jurisdiction.

Disposition

other