Barnett v. Poplar Bluff Reg'l Med. Ctr., 1:21-CV-88-SNLJ
| Decision Date | 19 November 2021 |
| Docket Number | 1:21-CV-88-SNLJ |
| Parties | VICTORIA BARNETT, Plaintiff, v. POPLAR BLUFF REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, LLC, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri |
Plaintiff Victoria Barnett filed this medical negligence case against defendants Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, LLC, Poplar Bluff HMA Physician Management, LLC, and Dr. Tracy Sambo. The defendants removed the case to this Court citing this Court's diversity jurisdiction. Plaintiff has moved to remand [Doc. 12].
Defendant Poplar Bluff HMA Physician Management removed this matter after it was served with process. Plaintiff argues that the removal was improper because she believes that the parties are all citizens of Missouri, thus divesting this Court of diversity jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Plaintiff insists that defendant improperly failed to identify the defendants' principal places of business in the notice of removal, which, plaintiff says, would have shown that defendant entities were citizens of Missouri. However, the two defendant entities are limited liability companies. The Eighth Circuit has held that limited liability companies are citizens of every state of which any member is a citizen. See GMAC Commercial Credit, LLC v. Dillard Dep't Stores, Inc., 357 F.3d 827, 829 (8th Cir. 2004). Defendants included in the Notice of Removal [Doc. 1] the following information about the citizenship of the two LLC defendants:
Removing Defendant Poplar Bluff HMA Physician Management LLC's sole member is Defendant Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, LLC. Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center LLC's sole member is Central States HMA Holdings, LLC, which is a citizen of Delaware and Tennessee. Central States HMA Holdings, LLC, has two members, HMA Hospital Holdings, LP and Health Management Associates, LP, each of which is a citizen of Delaware and Tennessee. HMA Hospital Holdings, LP and Health Management Associates, LP each have two partners, Health Management General Partner, LLC and Health Management Associates, LLC, each of which is a citizen of Delaware and Tennessee. Health Management General Partner, LLC has one member, Health Management Associates, LLC, which is a citizen of Delaware and Tennessee. Health Management Associates, LLC has one member, HMA-TRI Holdings, LLC, which is a citizen of Delaware and Tennessee. HMA-TRI Holdings, LLC, has one member, CHS/Community Health Systems, Inc., which is a citizen of Delaware and Tennessee.
Following the change of non-incorporated entity memberships, the line ends with an incorporated entity, which has its citizenship in its state of incorporation and its principal place of business. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c). Defendants have thus sufficiently set forth the citizenship of the two LLC defendants.[1]
Next plaintiff argues that the citizenship of the defendants has not been expressly stated for both the time of the complaint's...
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