Rhonda McNutt, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. First Federal Savings & Loan Association

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi dismissed Rhonda McNutt’s amended putative class-action complaint without prejudice for failure to properly plead subject-matter jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act. The court held that the complaint alleged residence rather than citizenship for potential class members and failed to identify Defendant’s legal entity type, preventing determination of the parties’ citizenship.

Holdings

1. Allegations that potential class members reside outside Mississippi do not adequately allege their citizenship because citizenship depends on domicile, not residence alone.
2. A pleading that describes a defendant only as a for-profit enterprise and identifies its location does not adequately allege the defendant's citizenship when the defendant's legal form is unspecified.
3. The amended complaint must be dismissed without prejudice because the plaintiff failed, after an earlier opportunity to amend, to adequately allege diversity of citizenship and therefore failed to establish subject-matter jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the amended complaint adequately alleged the citizenship of at least one putative class member different from the defendant for purposes of CAFA minimal diversity.
2. Whether the amended complaint adequately alleged the defendant's citizenship when it did not identify the defendant's legal entity type.
3. Whether dismissal without prejudice was warranted for failure to plead subject-matter jurisdiction.

Disposition

dismissed