Bell v. DeVry University, Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted Plaintiff Delainya Bell’s motion to remand a representative California Private Attorneys General Act action against DeVry University, Inc. The court held that Defendant failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000 because only Plaintiff’s pro rata share of attorneys’ fees could be considered and PAGA penalties could not be aggregated. The action was remanded to the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, and the federal case was closed.

Holdings

1. DeVry failed to meet its burden to demonstrate that the amount in controversy exceeded the $75,000 jurisdictional requirement.
2. The court declined to consider the consolidation-based jurisdictional argument because it was moot in light of the court’s remand of the related DeVry action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether DeVry established that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000 for purposes of diversity jurisdiction.
2. Whether attorneys’ fees in a representative PAGA action may be attributed entirely to the named plaintiff, rather than limited to the plaintiff’s pro rata share, when calculating the amount in controversy.
3. Whether the action could remain in federal court based on combining it with a related DeVry action for amount-in-controversy purposes.

Disposition

remanded