Briggs v. American Flyers Airline Corporation

• Decision Date: 30 December 1966
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 6479.
• Citation: 262 F. Supp. 16
• Parties: Bernice BRIGGS, Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN FLYERS AIRLINE CORPORATION, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Oklahoma

262 F. Supp. 16

Bernice BRIGGS, Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN FLYERS AIRLINE CORPORATION, Defendant.

Civ. No. 6479.

United States District Court N. D. Oklahoma.

December 30, 1966.

Greer & Greer, Tulsa, Okl., for plaintiff.

Shaw, Pittman, Potts, Trowbridge & Madden, Washington, D. C., Crowe, Boxley, Dunleuy, Thweatt, Swinford & Johnson, Oklahoma City, Okl., for defendant.

ORDER

DAUGHERTY, District Judge.

This case was filed by the plaintiff in the District Court of Tulsa County, State of Oklahoma. The plaintiff alleges that she is a citizen of Oklahoma, and the defendant is also a citizen of Oklahoma. The defendant has removed the case to this Court claiming a diversity of citizenship, refuting plaintiff's claim that the defendant is a citizen of Oklahoma and claiming that the defendant is a citizen of the State of Texas. The plaintiff has filed a Motion to Remand, asserting a lack of diversity on the basis that the plaintiff and defendant are both citizens of Oklahoma. Title 28 United States Code, Section 1332 is involved in the present motion before the Court and particularly the question thereunder as to whether the defendant has its principal place of business in Texas or Oklahoma, specifically Fort Worth, Texas, or Ardmore, Oklahoma. The defendant is incorporated under the laws of Texas, and is therefore a citizen of Texas for removal purposes, but it could also be a citizen of Oklahoma for removal purposes if its principal place of business is situated in Oklahoma. The material parts of Title 28 U.S.C.A., Section 1332, read as follows:

"Sec. 1332. Diversity of citizenship amount in controversy Costs

"(a) The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is between—

"(1) citizens of different States;

* * * * * *

"(c) For the purposes of this section and section 1441 of this title, a corporation shall be deemed a citizen of any State by which it has been incorporated and of the State where it has its principal place of business. * * *."

The Court set the motion to remand for an evidentiary hearing and arguments of counsel. Briefs have been submitted by both sides. From the evidentiary hearing, interrogatories and depositions on file the Court finds the facts generally as follows in connection with the issue joined as to the location of the defendant's principal place of business:

The defendant carries on its business of Charter Air Service in all of the states of the union and overseas, maintains sales offices in ten cities in the United States, completed 3,461 charter flights in 1964 of which only 228 had Oklahoma connections and no one state is clearly the state in which its business is principally conducted.

With reference to Fort Worth, Texas, the Court finds that the defendant maintains there its finance department, its advertising department, its public relations department, its directors live there and meet there, all incoming revenue of the defendant is received at Fort Worth, its banking facilities are maintained at Fort Worth, its income taxes are paid out of Fort Worth, some of its personnel are hired at Fort Worth, its general counsel lives and offices in Fort Worth, all airplanes are purchased out of Fort Worth, the defendant's CPA offices and works in Fort Worth, all officers of the defendant live and work in Fort Worth, the Vice President of defendant for Sales lives and has an office at Fort Worth, 28 administrative officials of the defendant work in Fort Worth, some payrolls of the defendant are prepared in Fort Worth, a hot telephone line (private line) is maintained between Fort Worth and Ardmore, Oklahoma, many of the defendant's airplanes are ordinarily located at airports at San Antonio, Texas, and Fort Worth is listed as the defendant's principal place of business with the Civil Aeronautics Board. Further, the defendant maintains executive office space in a downtown office building in Fort Worth occupying two-thirds of one floor of said building.

With reference to Ardmore, Oklahoma, the defendant maintains there its operations department, its maintenance department, has more employees at Ardmore than at Fort Worth, Texas, its stewardess department is located there, Ardmore is the location of most of the property of defendant by value, Ardmore departments are permitted to hire personnel for the same in Ardmore, some of the officers of the defendant who live and work in Fort Worth also have an office at Ardmore and spend some time there, defendant's planes are there on an average of five days per month for maintenance purposes, Ardmore has 30 administrative officials of defendant, some payrolls are prepared at Ardmore and the defendant leases hangar and office space at Ardmore, Oklahoma.

The location of a...