McInnes v. The Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc., No. 2:2019cv00098 - Document 46 (M.D. Ala. 2021)

Court Description: OPINION AND ORDER: It is therefore the ORDER, JUDGMENT, and DECREE of the court that the plf has until 9/27/2021, to amend the complaint to allege jurisdiction sufficiently, see 28 U.S.C. 1653; otherwise this lawsuit shall be dismissed without pr ejudice. It is further ORDERED that the motion to dismiss (Doc. 17 ) is denied without prejudice and with leave to renew by two weeks after the date of the filing of the amended complaint. Signed by Honorable Judge Myron H. Thompson on 9/13/2021. (cwl, )

Download PDF

McInnes v. The Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc. Doc. 46 Case 2:19-cv-00098-MHT-JTA Document 46 Filed 09/13/21 Page 1 of 4 IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, NORTHERN DIVISION GAVIN McINNES, Plaintiff, v. THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER, INC., Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:19cv98-MHT (WO) OPINION AND ORDER In reviewing the pending motion to dismiss, it came to the attention of the court that the allegations of the plaintiff’s complaint are insufficient to invoke this court's diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction. The allegations must show that the citizenship of each plaintiff is different from that of each defendant. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The standard plaintiff's in two complaint ways. fails First, to it meet provides this the “residence” rather than the “citizenship” of plaintiff Gavin McInnes. An allegation that a party is a Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:19-cv-00098-MHT-JTA Document 46 Filed 09/13/21 Page 2 of 4 “resident” of a State is not sufficient to establish that a party is a “citizen” of that State. See Travaglio v. Am. Exp. Co., 735 F.3d 1266, 1269 (11th Cir. 2013) (“Residence alone is not enough.”) (citation omitted); Taylor v. Appleton, 30 F.3d 1365, 1367 (11th Cir. 1994) (“Citizenship, not residence, is the key fact that must be alleged in the complaint to establish diversity for a natural person.”).1 Second, the complaint does not properly allege the citizenship of defendant Southern Poverty Law Center because it states “headquarters” business.” the rather location than its of the defendant’s “principal place of To invoke jurisdiction based on diversity in a case in which a corporation is a party, it is necessary to allege distinctly and affirmatively all 1 “Citizenship is equivalent to ‘domicile’ for purposes of diversity jurisdiction. ... And domicile requires both residence in a state and ‘an intention to remain there indefinitely....’” Travaglio, 735 F.3d 1266, 1269 (quoting McCormick v. Aderholt, 293 F.3d 1254, 1257, 1258 (11th Cir. 2002)) (internal citation omitted). 2 Case 2:19-cv-00098-MHT-JTA Document 46 Filed 09/13/21 Page 3 of 4 the States by which the corporation has been incorporated and the State in which the corporation has its principal place of business. see also American Motorists 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c); Ins. Co. v. American Employers' Ins. Co., 600 F.2d 15, 16 and n.1 (5th Cir. 1979) (per curiam).2 While a corporation’s headquarters will often be its principal place of business, that is not always the case. See Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77, 92-93 (2010). term ‘headquarters’ Accordingly, “simply using the in alleging federal diversity jurisdiction does not necessarily allege a company's principal place of business.” Capps v. Teva Pharms. USA, Inc., No. 3:21-CV-321-MMH-JBT, 2021 WL 1164818, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 26, 2021) (Howard, J.). As jurisdiction has not been properly pleaded, the court will deny the motion to dismiss without prejudice 2. In Bonner v. Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir. 1981) (en banc), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals adopted as binding precedent all of the decisions of the former Fifth Circuit handed down prior to the close of business on September 30, 1981. 3 Case 2:19-cv-00098-MHT-JTA Document 46 Filed 09/13/21 Page 4 of 4 and with leave to renew. *** It is therefore the ORDER, JUDGMENT, and DECREE of the court that the plaintiff has until September 27, 2021, to amend sufficiently, the see 28 complaint U.S.C. to § allege 1653; jurisdiction otherwise this lawsuit shall be dismissed without prejudice. It is further ORDERED that the motion to dismiss (Doc. 17) is denied without prejudice and with leave to renew by two weeks after the date of the filing of the amended complaint. DONE, this the 13th day of September, 2021. /s/ Myron H. Thompson UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 4

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.