Allen v. One United Bank, No. 11-55129 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseThe underlying action was brought in California state court by plaintiff, who sued the Bank, a federally-insured, FDIC-supervised bank, for wrongful termination stemming from her complaints about the Bank's lending practices. At issue on appeal was the construction of 12 U.S.C. 1819(b)(2)(B), a statute that gave the FDIC the right to remove actions from state court to federal court. Here, in the underlying case in state court, the FDIC had neither been sued nor was it a party. The court concluded that Congress granted the FDIC far broader access to the federal courts than was available to ordinary litigants, but that access was not unlimited. Whether the FDIC's access should be broader was a question for Congress, not the court. As drafted, the statute did not authorize removal by the FDIC where it was not a party to the state court action and its role in the litigation was limited to a prospective, would-be intervenor. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's order remanding the case to state court.
Court Description: FDIC. The panel affirmed the district court’s order remanding the case to state court where the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was not authorized under 12 U.S.C. § 1819(b)(2)(B) to remove the action to federal court. The panel explained that 12 U.S.C. § 1819(b)(2)(B), which grants the FDIC broad removal authority, is triggered by the filing of a suit against the FDIC or when the FDIC is substituted as a party. In the underlying case in state court, the FDIC had neither been sued nor was it a party. The panel held that § 1819(b)(2)(B) authorized removal by the FDIC only after it had obtained party status, and simply filing a motion to intervene did not open the removal window.
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