Shell Oil Co., Matter of

Decision Date06 August 1992
Docket NumberNo. 92-1709,92-1709
PartiesIn the Matter of SHELL OIL COMPANY, Petitioner.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Vincent H. Venker, II, Coburn, Croft & Putzell, St. Louis, Mo., Thomas M. Zulim, Houston, Tex., for petitioner.

Joseph A. Bartholomew, Cook, Shevlin, Keefe, Ysursa, Brauer & Bartholomew, Belleville, Ill., for respondent.

Before CUDAHY, COFFEY, and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

In compliance with the partial writ of mandamus issued on July 1, 966 F.2d 1130, the district judge has explained why he remanded this case to state court. That explanation appears as an appendix to this opinion.

After Congress amended 28 U.S.C. § 1332 to raise the jurisdictional amount in diversity cases to $50,000, the district judge adopted the practice of remanding any case in which the plaintiff files an affidavit or stipulation limiting the recovery to less than the jurisdictional amount. This practice is inconsistent with St. Paul Mercury Indemnity Co. v. Red Cab Co., 303 U.S. 283, 58 S.Ct. 586, 82 L.Ed. 845 (1938), which holds that a post-removal amendment to the complaint limiting the plaintiff's claim does not authorize a remand. Because jurisdiction is determined as of the instant of removal, a post-removal affidavit or stipulation is no more effective than a post-removal amendment of the complaint.

When a district judge remands a properly-removed case because of subsequent events, this court has both the authority and the duty to rescind that remand. See In re Amoco Petroleum Additives Co., 964 F.2d 706, 708-09 (7th Cir.1992). This case was properly removed. Whatever one makes of Kliebert v. Upjohn Co., 915 F.2d 142 (5th Cir.1990), vacated on grant of rehearing in banc, 923 F.2d 47, dismissed after settlement, 947 F.2d 736 (1991), which our original opinion discusses, the district judge did not rely on its theory. Instead the district judge wrote that the allegation in plaintiff's complaint was unauthorized by Illinois law--is indeed forbidden by Illinois law--and could have been stricken from the complaint by the state court. This means that the factual allegations of the complaint, and not empty words setting an illusory cap on damages, inform the jurisdictional inquiry. Plaintiff's complaint, alleging breach of a contract to pay $70,000 per year, shows that the amount in controversy exceeds $50,000, putting the post-removal stipulation to one side. Because the complaint itself satisfies the jurisdictional requirements, we need not decide what weight to give to allegations in the petition for removal. Litigants who want to prevent removal must file a binding stipulation or affidavit with their complaints; once a defendant has removed the case, St. Paul makes later filings irrelevant.

The petition for a writ of mandamus is granted. The district court shall rescind the order remanding the case to state court.

APPENDIX

In the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Illinois

EARL DENNLER, Plaintiff,

v.

SHELL OIL COMPANY, Defendant.

NO. 91 916 WLB

ORDER

At the direction of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in the matter of "Shell Oil Company, petitioner, No. 92 1709" by their order of July 1, 1992, we expand the order of this court entered on March 3, 1992 remanding the cause to the state court.

Paragraph 2-604 of Chapter 110, Illinois Revised Statutes, prohibits the pleading of a specific ad damnum except to the minimum extent necessary to comply with the circuit rules of assignment. What this means as a practical matter is that the plaintiff, in filing his complaint, may only...

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