Gustavo Yepes v. General Motors LLC et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Central District of California remands Gustavo Yepes's Song-Beverly Warranty Act action against General Motors LLC to California state court. The court held that GM failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000, finding the proposed civil penalties speculative and the actual damages plus potential attorneys’ fees insufficient. The court denied Yepes’s motion to remand as moot, vacated all dates, and directed the clerk to close the federal case.

Holdings

1. The removing defendant failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000, so federal diversity jurisdiction was not established.
2. Potential civil penalties under California Civil Code section 1794(c) could not be included to establish the amount in controversy on the showing made because their recovery was speculative and unsupported by the facts and evidence.

Questions Presented

1. Whether General Motors established by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000 for purposes of diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).
2. Whether potential Song-Beverly Act civil penalties could be included in the amount in controversy without evidentiary support establishing that such penalties were recoverable.
3. Whether the asserted attorney fees, added to the actual damages, satisfied the amount-in-controversy requirement.

Disposition

remanded