Boundy v. Bath

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge Raymond P. Moore Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-01658-RM-KLM CRAIG BOUNDY, EXPERIAN INFORMATION SOLUTIONS, INC., JENNIFER SUN, and JONES DAY, Petitioners, v. BRIAN EDMOND BATH a/k/a Brian William Wallace, Respondent. ______________________________________________________________________________ ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE ______________________________________________________________________________ This matter is before the Court sua sponte upon consideration of Plaintiff’s verified petition (ECF No. 1). The petition appears to assume the Court has diversity subject-matter jurisdiction over this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 and includes allegations that Respondent is an individual and resident of the State of Colorado and that Petitioner Jones Day is a general partnership with offices in the State of California. (See ECF No. 1 at ¶¶ 5, 7.) A federal court has an independent obligation to examine its own jurisdiction at every stage of the proceeding. Amazon, Inc. v. Dirt Camp, Inc., 273 F.3d 1271, 1276 (10th Cir. 2001). “The party invoking federal jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing such jurisdiction as a threshold matter.” Radil v. Sanborn W. Camps, Inc., 384 F.3d 1220, 1224 (10th Cir. 2004). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (a)(1), “[t]he district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is between...citizens of different States.” Petitioner Jones Day is a general partnership, and “an unincorporated entity’s citizenship is typically determined by its members’ citizenship,” Grynberg v. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., 805 F.3d 901, 905-06 (10th Cir. 2015). A partnership takes the citizenship of all its partners. See id. In this case, Petitioners fail to allege the identity or citizenship of the partners of Petitioner Jones Day, and therefore the Court is unable to determine its citizenship and whether complete diversity exists. See Penteco Corp. Ltd. P’ship.—1985A v. Union Gas Sys., Inc., 929 F.2d 1519, 1521 (10th Cir. 1991) (recognizing that allegations of diversity must generally be pleaded affirmatively to demonstrate federal jurisdiction under § 1332). It is therefore ORDERED that, on or before June 17, 2020, Petitioners shall show cause why this case should not be dismissed due to uncertainty as to whether any member of the Petitioner Jones Day is a citizen of the State of Colorado. DATED this 10th day of June, 2020. BY THE COURT: United States District Judge