Draper v. GB LL Holdings, No. 3:2019cv00069 - Document 3 (W.D. Va. 2019)
Court Description: MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Senior Judge Glen E. Conrad on 11/15/19. (hnw)
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cLEqk' soFFlcEU.s.DlsT.coun-r AT cFl x u.ozq'Esu uE,.vA FILED y0V 15 2218 FI O NRTT l oHEUWE NITSETDER SN TADTIE SS TR DICSTR OI F CV TI C RO GU WI RT A J L C, s . L ,L CHA RLOU ESV ILLE DIVISION CED RICK DR APER, CivilAction N o.3:19-cv-00069 Plaintiff, M EM ORANDUM orw ltm By:Hon.Glen E.Conrad SeniôrUnited StatesD istrictJudge GB LL HOLD IN GS,LLC,d/b/a GO PU FF, D efendant. Cedrick D raper,a frequentpro yq litigantin thisdistrict,com m enced thisaction by filing a .. form complaintagainstGB LL Holdings,LLC,d/b/agopufftçtgopuff'l. Dr>perhasnotpaidthe requisite ttling fee. Instead,he hasmoved to proceed Lq forma pauperis (EtIFP''). Forthe . follow ing reasons,Draper's lFP m otion will be denied,>nd his com plaint will be dism issed withoutprejudiceforlack ofsubject-matterjurisdiction underFederalRuleofCivilProçedure 12(h)(3). Backeround D raper is a citizen of V irgini: who resides in Lynchburg. The form com plaint and attached civilcover sheet indicate that.gopuff is a lim ited liability com pany thatm aintains an oftk e in Albem arle County,V irginia. Draper v. GB LL Holdings ln the section ' ofthe complai nttitledGçBasisforJurisdiction,''DrapercheckedttleKTederal Doc. 3 . question''box. Compl.3,Dkt.No.2. Whenaskedtoçûlllistthespecificfederalstatutes,federal treaties,and/orprovisions o'fthe Upited States Constitution thatare atissue in the case,''D raper Dockets.Justia.com / stated as follow s:EGBreach of ContractLaw ,''tt-f' ortLaw ,''and G<pro se unrepresented in form a pauperis.'' Id. The form complaintalso includesthe follow ing Sçstatem entofClaim '': 1. Petitionerclaimls)breachofcontractbyterminatiofl. Petitioherclaimls)breachofcontractbyover-the-phone term ination. Petitionerclaimsloslslofprofitbybreachclaim. Petitionerclaim s restitution by breach claim . Petitionerclaimsaggravatedgdamagesqbyviolationactionof fiduciary duty ofcom pany from pointto contestto be transferred to anothersubsidiary oftk e. Id.at4. D iscussion I. lFP M otion . By orderenteredApril27,2018,Draperwasenjoined foraperiodoftwoyearsGGfrom proceeding i .l . !formapauperisinthisdistrictinany futurematterexcepthabeascorpuscasesand . cases overw hioh the federalcourtarguabl y hassubjectmatterjurisdiction involvingclaimsof , imminent danger of serious bodily injury.'' Draper v.M uy Pizza Southeast LLC,No. ) , . 4:18-cv-00013(W .D.Va.Apr.27,2018)(Kiser,J.),appealdismissed,No.18-1545(4thCir.Oct. 10,2018). The instantaction doesnotfallwithin eitherexception tothepresling injunction. Consequently,Draper'sIFP m otion w illbe denied. H. Subiect-M atterJurisdiction PursuanttoRule.12(h)(3)oftheFederalRulesofCivilProcedure,thecourtGEmustdismiss'' anactionRlilfthecourtdeterminesatapytimethatitlackssubject-malerjurisdiction-'' Fed.R. Civ-'P.12(h)(3). çdAccordingly,questionsofsubject-matterjurisdiction may be raised atany 2 pointduringtheproceedingsandmay(or,moreprecisely,must)beraisedsuaspontebythecoult'' BrickwoodContractors.lnc.v.DatanetEng'g.lnc.,369F.3d385,390(4thCir.2004). ETederal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. They possess only that power authorized by Constitution and statute.'' K okkonen v.Guardian Life lns.Co.ofA m .,511U .S. 375,377(1994)(citationsomitted). Consequently,GGthere isno presum ption'thatthe courthas jurisdiction-'' Pinkley.lnc.v.CityofFrederick,191F.3d394,399(4thCir.1999). lnstead,Etthe factsproyidingthecourtjurisdictionmustbeaffirmativelyallegedinthecomplaint-'' Id.;seealso Kokkonen,511U.S.at377(explainingthattheburdenofestablishingjurisdictionrestsuponthe. partyassertingjurisdiction). Generally,acasemaybefledinfederalcourtifthereisfederal-questionjurisdictionunder 28U.S.C.j1331ordiversityjurisdictionunèer28U.S.C.j1332. Accordingtotheboxchecked on the form complaint, Draper seeks to invoke the court's federal-question jurisdiction. However,Draper does not cite to any federal statutory or constitutionalprovision that m ight supporttheexerciseofjurisdictionunderj 1331,andthecourtisunabletodiscernqnyfederal questionpresentedbyhissparseallegations. See28U.S.C.j1331(limitingjurisdictiontoclaims ' ççarising underthe Constimtion,lawsortreatiesofthe United States'). Instead, Draper lists causesofaction thatariseunderstate law ,including breach ofcontract. See Sonoco Prods.Co.v. PhvsiciansHea1thPlan.lnc.,338F.3d366,369(4thCir.2003)(notingthatbreachofcontractisa state-law causeofaction);Simpkinsv.Sun-rrustM ortg..Inc..No.2:12-cv-00264,2013U.S.Dist. LEXIS67039,at*21-22(E.D.Va.M ay7,2013)(holdingthatEtfederalquesticmjurisdiction(didp notlie''overacomplaintthatallegedlçonlystate-law contractandtortclaims''). Draper'scomplaint,asGled,alsofailstosatfsfytherequirementsfordiversityjurisdiction underj1332. çEW henoriginaljurisdictionisbasedondiversityofcitizenship,thecauseofaction mustbe between pe es of çpppletely diverse stte cie ensbip,O tis,no plaino may be a : cltlzM ofi es= esàte asR y defendsnt R d the amomltin conkoversy mustexceed $75,000 ., ' : excluslveoflnterestsandcos' ts.5: Elllottv.Am.Sv esIns.C0..883F.3d384,394(4th01r.2ù18). Forpurposesofdiversityje sdidlon,anindivldual'scltlzzm@lp isdetermlnedbyhisdomlclle. Axellohnxm Inc.v.Ce ollCarollnaoilco..145F.3d660,663(4thCir.1998). Thecitizenship of a lqmltM liablzt/'company ls b%ed on the citizenqhlp of its mimbeD. Gen.Téch. Appllrmllons.h c.v.Fr oL13%.388F.3d 114,121(4thC1r.2004). , e . Draper alleges thathe ls a clA en ofVlrginiw O d he proddes a Virgilé address for gopc However,Dmper'scomple tdoesnotincludeanyallegaionsregardingtiedltizensliip of gope s members. Nordoes itindlcate thatthe amountin conkoversy exceeds $75,000. ' Accordmg ; ly,thecou 'rtlsunasletoconcludèO tdlverpl tyjurisdlctionexisl atY st. lme. . Coneluslon Forthe reasons stted,Dmper'slFP motlon wi11J be denled. and. the complaintw1llbe . *' . dlsmissedM thoutpreludke,FlmlmnttoFederalRuleofCM iProcedure12(h)(3). ' . ' . . TheClerk lsdirenfezlto send coplesoflblKmemomndum opinion and the accompanylng . ordertotùeplalnuf. DA TED ' . :'Ph1K 6 < dayofNovember,2019. ' SeniorUnild StatésDlsd ctJudge 4
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