Box v. PetroTel, No. 21-10686 (5th Cir. 2022)
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Plaintiff sued PetroTel Oman, LLC (“PetroTel”) and affiliated entities in Texas state court, alleging that they breached an oral contract to compensate him for helping them raise funds for an oil and gas project in Oman. The PetroTel entities removed the action to federal court, arguing that removal was proper under the federal officer removal statute because they “acted under” a federal agency by partnering with the United States International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”) to raise funds for the project. The district court remanded the action, rejecting both grounds for removal offered by the PetroTel entities.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding rejecting Defendant’s grounds for removal to federal court. The court held that the federal officer removal statute nor the Grable doctrine provides a basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction in Plaintiff’s breach of contract action against Defendant.
First, the court reasoned that PetroTel did not assist or help the DFC carry out a task that the DFC—or any federal superior—otherwise would have had to do itself. Accordingly, PetroTel did not act under the DFC, so it was not entitled to remove under Sec. 1442(a)(1). Next, the court held that because Plaintiff’s state court petition does not satisfy the well-pleaded complaint rule, the district court correctly determined that Grable does not provide a basis for federal jurisdiction.
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