Daisy Razo v. McLane/Suneast, Inc., et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Central District of California granted Daisy Razo’s motion to remand her FEHA employment-discrimination action to Los Angeles County Superior Court. The court held that the individual defendants were not fraudulently joined and therefore their California citizenship defeated diversity jurisdiction; the defendants’ motions to dismiss were denied without prejudice.

Holdings

1. The individual defendants were not fraudulently joined because defendants failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that Razo could not possibly state a harassment claim against them under California law. Their California citizenship therefore could not be disregarded, complete diversity was absent, and the district court lacked diversity jurisdiction.
2. The action must be remanded to Los Angeles County Superior Court because the court lacked diversity jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the individual defendants were fraudulently joined so that their California citizenship could be disregarded for purposes of diversity jurisdiction.
2. Whether the allegations and asserted limitations defense against the individual defendants required denial of remand because the harassment claim was not possibly viable under California law.
3. Whether the defendants' motions to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), 12(f), and 12(b)(2) should be resolved in federal court after remand.

Disposition

remanded