Whitworth Tool Holdings LLC, et al. v. Little Mountain Precision, LLC, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied without prejudice Plaintiffs’ motions for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and emergency hearing. The court held that Plaintiffs had not adequately pleaded the citizenship of the LLC members and sub-members or the individual defendants for purposes of diversity jurisdiction. The court also found that Plaintiffs failed to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b)(1)(B), ordered Plaintiffs to provide jurisdictional information and serve the defendants, and stated that a status conference would follow service and appearance.

Holdings

1. A limited liability company's citizenship is determined by the citizenship of each of its members, including the citizenship of sub-members when a member is itself an entity. Because Plaintiffs did not identify the citizenship of all members and sub-members of the LLC parties, they failed to plead sufficient facts for the court to determine whether diversity jurisdiction existed.
2. Allegations that individual defendants reside in a state do not establish their citizenship for diversity purposes; citizenship turns on domicile.
3. A court may issue a temporary restraining order without notice only if the movant's attorney certifies in writing the efforts made to give notice and the reasons notice should not be required. Plaintiffs' failure to provide that certification made ex parte relief inappropriate.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiffs adequately pleaded facts establishing diversity subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1).
2. Whether Plaintiffs satisfied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b)(1)(B)'s written-certification requirement for an ex parte temporary restraining order.
3. Whether the court should consider the substantive grounds for Plaintiffs' requested TRO and conduct an emergency hearing before Plaintiffs established subject matter jurisdiction and complied with Rule 65(b)(1)(B).

Disposition

other