John Roe MN 70 v. Doe 1

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted plaintiff's motion to remand a removed action involving claims arising from alleged childhood sexual assault. The court held that 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b)(1) required disregarding the citizenship of defendants sued under fictitious names, leaving defendants unable to establish diversity jurisdiction. The court remanded the action to the Superior Court of California for Alameda County and vacated the hearing.

Holdings

1. Section 1441(b)(1) requires the court to disregard the citizenship of defendants sued under fictitious names, even when the defendants contend that their actual identities are known or that the defendants are not literally fictitious.
2. The district court lacked established diversity subject matter jurisdiction because, after disregarding the citizenship of all defendants sued under fictitious names, the removing defendants had not shown complete diversity.

Questions Presented

1. Whether 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b)(1) requires the court to disregard the citizenship of defendants sued under fictitious names when the defendants' actual identities are allegedly known.
2. Whether diversity jurisdiction existed where all defendants in the complaint were designated by Doe names and the removing defendants had not established diversity after disregarding those defendants' citizenship.

Disposition

remanded