Atlas v. Poplar

• Citation: 209 F.3d 1064
• Decision Date: 14 December 1999
• Docket Number: 99-4145,Nos. 99-4113,s. 99-4113
• Parties: (8th Cir. 2000) In re: Atlas Van Lines, Inc.; In re: Poplar Bluff Transfer Company; In re: Nathan Stout; In re: Gregory Stout, Petitioners. Lanis L. Karnes,Appellee, v. Poplar Bluff Transfer Company;Nathan Stout; Gregory Stout; Atlas Van Lines, Inc.,Appellants. Submitted:
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

Page 1064

209 F.3d 1064 (8th Cir. 2000)

In re: Atlas Van Lines, Inc.; In re: Poplar Bluff Transfer Company; In re: Nathan Stout; In re: Gregory Stout, Petitioners.

Lanis L. Karnes,Appellee, v. Poplar Bluff Transfer Company;Nathan Stout; Gregory Stout; Atlas Van Lines, Inc.,Appellants.

Nos. 99-4113, 99-4145

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

Submitted: December 14, 1999

Filed: April 6, 2000

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Before BEAM, HEANEY, and HANSEN, Circuit Judges.

HANSEN, Circuit Judge.

Atlas Van Lines, Poplar Bluff Transfer Company, Nathan Stout, and Gregory Stout (petitioners) appeal the district court's¹ order remanding this case to state court. Alternatively, they seek a writ of mandamus from this court directing the district court to rescind its remand order. Lanis L. Karnes, acting pro se, argues that we lack jurisdiction to review the district court's remand order and that even if subject matter jurisdiction is present, the district court correctly remanded the case to state court. Karnes initially filed this action against the petitioners in Missouri state court.

Karnes claimed that she hired the petitioners to move her property from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to Virginia Beach, Virginia, and that, in the course of the move, the petitioners negligently damaged her property. Karnes's complaint alleged several theories of recovery premised exclusively on Missouri law. The petitioners removed this action to federal court. See 28 U.S.C 1441(b). As a basis for federal court jurisdiction, they claimed that Karnes's Missouri state law claims are preempted by the Carmack Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act. See 49 U.S.C. 11707. The Carmack Amendment regulates the liability of common carriers engaged in interstate commerce. See Adams Express Co. v. Croninger, 226 U.S. 491, 503-05 (1913).

Karnes filed a motion to remand this case to state court. Petitioners filed a motion to dismiss Karnes's complaint for failure to state a claim governed by the Carmack Amendment, and filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court denied Karnes's remand motion after finding that the preemptive force of the Carmack Amendment enveloped her state law claims. The district court also denied the petitioners' motions and granted Karnes leave to file an amended complaint asserting federal causes of action based on the Carmack Amendment. Following the filing of Karnes's amended complaint, the district court sua sponte reevaluated its denial of Karnes's motion to remand this case to state court. The district court concluded that petitioners' Carmack Amendment assertions actually were defenses to Karnes's state law causes of action. As defenses, they did not preempt Karnes's state law claims and did not confer federal jurisdiction based upon the well-pleaded complaint rule. The district court then ordered this case remanded to state court. The petitioners appeal or, alternatively, seek a writ of mandamus arguing that federal jurisdiction is proper because a federal question now appears on the face of the amended complaint. The petitioners contend we have jurisdiction over the remand order because the district court lacked authority to sua sponte reevaluate its prior order.

As an initial matter, we must determine whether we have jurisdiction to review the district court's remand order. Although 28 U.S.C. 1447(d) generally prohibits appellate review of an order remanding a case to state court, the Supreme Court has held that 1447(d) is not implicated unless the district court remanded the case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1447(c). See Quackenbush v. Allstate Ins. Co., 517 U.S. 706, 711-12 (1996). Section 1447(c) provides in pertinent part that "[a] motion to remand the case on the basis of any defect other than lack of subject matter jurisdiction must be made within 30 days after the filing of the notice of removal under section 1446(a). If at any time before final judgment it appears that the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the case shall be remanded." 28 U.S.C. 1447(c). When a district court's remand order is based on a factor enumerated in 1447(c), this court lacks jurisdiction to review the remand order either through appeal or by writ of mandamus, even if the district court's order is erroneous. See Transit Cas. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London, 119 F.3d 619, 623 (8th Cir. 1997). Hence, we must decide whether the district court's remand order falls within the ambit of 1447(c).

In this case, the district court sua sponte reevaluated its denial of Karnes's remand motion and determined that this case should be remanded to state court. The petitioners argue that the district court decided to remand this case because it perceived the existence of a defect in the removal process. The petitioners contend that such sua sponte action is not permitted under 1447(c). We disagree with the petitioners' assessment. Upon reviewing the district court's remand order, it becomes apparent that the district court was not addressing a defect in the removal process but was reevaluating the issue of subject matter jurisdiction. The plain language of 1447(c) specifically contemplates and permits such a reevaluation. See 28 U.S.C. 1447(c). The district court reexamined the preemptive force of the Carmack Amendment and concluded that it did not preempt Karnes's state court claims. The district court also found that the parties failed to meet the requirements for diversity jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. 1332. Finding an absence of subject matter jurisdiction, the district court remanded the case to state court. Such action is directly countenanced by the language of 1447(c), which mandates a remand anytime that the district court concludes that subject matter jurisdiction is nonexistent. As one of the 1447(c) criteria served as the basis for the district court's remand order, 1447(d) proscribes us from reviewing the correctness of the legal conclusions underlying that order. Specifically, we are statutorily forbidden in this case from reviewing the district court's determinations regarding diversity jurisdiction or the preemptive force of the Carmack Amendment.

Our conclusion that we lack jurisdiction to review certain components of the district court's remand order does not end our inquiry. Apart from the underlying basis of the district...