Eleanor Colbert v. Tesla, Inc., et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California remands Eleanor Colbert’s case against Tesla, Inc. and other defendants to California state court. The Court holds that the citizenship of unserved, non-fictitious individual defendants must be considered for diversity jurisdiction, and that their shared citizenship with the plaintiff defeats complete diversity. The Clerk is directed to close the file.

Holdings

1. The citizenship of named, non-fictitious defendants must be considered in determining whether complete diversity exists, even when those defendants had not been served at the time of removal.
2. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b)(1) does not permit disregarding the individual defendants' citizenship because they were not sued under fictitious names.
3. Remand was required because the shared citizenship of Plaintiff and the individual defendants deprived the Court of diversity jurisdiction, and Tesla identified no other basis for federal jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the citizenship of unserved, non-fictitious defendants must be considered when determining whether complete diversity exists for removal jurisdiction.
2. Whether 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b)(1), concerning defendants sued under fictitious names, permits disregarding the citizenship of the unserved individual defendants in this case.
3. Whether the Court had any other basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction.

Disposition

remanded