Gloria Brockman and Willie Brockman v. Costco Wholesale Corporation and Does 1 through 10, inclusive

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California ordered Gloria and Willie Brockman to disclose the special damages they had incurred to date in their negligence, premises liability, and loss-of-consortium action against Costco Wholesale Corporation. The disclosure was required to assist the court in determining whether the amount-in-controversy requirement for diversity jurisdiction was satisfied.

Holdings

1. Jurisdictional discovery was warranted because the court needed a more satisfactory factual showing to determine whether the amount-in-controversy requirement for diversity jurisdiction was satisfied.
2. Plaintiffs were ordered to disclose their special damages incurred to date to Costco and file the disclosure with the court within thirty days of the order.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court should permit jurisdictional discovery because the record did not establish whether Plaintiffs' claimed special damages were a reasonable estimate for purposes of the amount-in-controversy requirement.
2. Whether Plaintiffs should be ordered to disclose the special damages incurred to date in connection with the court's evaluation of subject matter jurisdiction.

Disposition

other