Sentry Insurance Company v. Amurkhanov

[7] 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 San Francisco Division 11 SENTRY INSURANCE COMPANY, Case No. 23-cv-05638-LB 12 Plaintiff, ORDER REGARDING REMAND 13 v. Re: ECF No. 27 14 KHAYRULLA AMURKHANOV, et al., 15 Defendants. [16] 17 Following its settlement with defendants Khayrulla Amurkhanov and Aydin Express, the 18 plaintiff asks for the case to be remanded to the Alameda County Superior Court. The issue is 19 whether the court now lacks subject-matter jurisdiction such that remand is appropriate.1 The only 20 basis for subject-matter jurisdiction is count one of the complaint, which asserts a federal claim 21 under the Carmack Amendment against defendants All-Ways Trucking and Aydin Express.2 22 (Count two is a claim for subrogation against Dunkel Logistics.3) The plaintiff now contends that 23 All-Ways Trucking was a broker rather than a carrier and so is not subject to the Carmack [25] 26 1 See Order – ECF No. 31; Statement – ECF No. 32. Citations refer to material in the Electronic Case File (ECF); pinpoint citations are to the ECF-generated page numbers at the top of documents. [27] 2 Compl. – ECF No. 1 at 11–13. 1 Amendment.4 Chubb Grp. of Ins. Cos. v. H.A. Transp. Sys., Inc., 243 F. Supp. 2d 1064 , 1068–69 2 (C.D. Cal. 2002) (“[T]he Carmack Amendment does not apply to brokers.”). If that is true, then 3 the court lacks federal-question jurisdiction given that the other count one defendant, Aydin 4 Express, has been dismissed. 5 The only claim against All-Ways Trucking is the Carmack Amendment claim. The complaint 6 describes all All-Ways Trucking as a “transportation broker and/or motor carrier involved in the 7 transport of goods in interstate commerce.”5 It alleges that the plaintiff’s insured contracted with 8 All-Ways Trucking to transport the cargo, and All-Ways Trucking then contracted with Aydin 9 Express to transport that cargo.6 10 “The Carmack Amendment provides shippers with the right to sue carriers for any damage to 11 goods during transport.” Pro. Commc’ns, Inc. v. Cont. Freighters, Inc., 171 F. Supp. 2d 546, 550 (D. 12 Md. 2001 ). Under the Carmack Amendment, a broker is “a person, other than a motor carrier . . . that 13 as a principal or agent sells, offers for sale, negotiates for, or holds itself out by solicitation, 14 advertisement, or otherwise as selling, providing, or arranging for, transportation by motor carrier for 15 compensation.” Chubb Grp., 243 F. Supp. 2d at 1069 n.4 (quoting 49 U.S.C. § 13102 (2)). A motor 16 carrier is “a person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation.” 49 U.S.C. § 17 13102(14). Given the definition of broker, “[m]otor carriers . . . are not brokers within the meaning of 18 this section when they arrange or offer to arrange the transportation of shipments which they are 19 authorized to transport and which they have accepted and legally bound themselves to transport.” 49 20 C.F.R. § 371.2 (a). 21 Under the complaint in its current form, All-Ways Trucking was sued under the Carmack 22 Amendment, which conveys federal-question jurisdiction over the Carmack Amendment claim 23 and supplemental jurisdiction over the state claim against Dunkel Logistics. Based only on the 24 complaint, there is no basis to remand. Wright & Miller, Remand In General § 3739 (2023) [26] 4 Statement - ECF No. 32. [27] 5 Compl. – ECF No. 1 at 10 (¶ 12). ] (“[T]he exercise of jurisdiction over claims supported by an independent basis of federal subject2 || matter jurisdiction in removed cases typically is mandatory, so that discretionary remand of such 3 claims ordinarily is prohibited.”). 4 That said, the plaintiff said that “the cause of action for [the] Carmack Amendment has been 5 || resolved. The remaining cause of action is for subrogation. . . .”’ The plaintiff could voluntarily 6 || dismiss All-Ways Trucking (again named only in count one), thus leaving only the state claim for 7 || subrogation against Dunkel Logistics. It could amend the complaint to eliminate the Carmack 8 || Amendment claim and add a claim for subrogation against All-Ways Trucking (assuming that it 9 || can). A third option is to voluntarily dismiss the case, which would operate as a dismissal without 10 || prejudice to refiling the case in state court. 11 The court also flags that a motion to remand for lack of jurisdiction is a dispositive motion. 12 || Not all parties have appeared, and thus — assuming that the plaintiff ultimately moves to remand 13 || the case instead of voluntarily dismissing it — the case will be reassigned to an Article III judge. 14 Williams v. King, 875 F.3d 500, 503 (9th Cir. 2017). That procedural posture militates in favor of 3 15 a clean record about the claims and the basis for remand. a 16 By Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at noon, the plaintiff is welcome to file a short update about 2 17 || what it plans to do. 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. LAE 19 Dated: March 16, 2024 LAUREL BEELER 20 United States Magistrate Judge [27] 28 || 7 Statement — ECF No. 32.