Darras v. Trans World Airlines, Inc.
| Citation | 617 F. Supp. 1068 |
| Decision Date | 30 September 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 85 C 08267.,85 C 08267. |
| Parties | William J. DARRAS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Philip H. Corboy, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiffs.
Conklin & Adler, Ltd., John W. Adler, James F. Murphy, Chicago, Ill., for defendants.
Trans World Airlines, Inc. ("TWA") has just purported to remove this action from the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, relying on two asserted grounds of federal jurisdiction:
Because TWA's removal petition is insufficient on its face, this case is remanded sua sponte.
Even on its Count II federal-question jurisdictional predicate, TWA must still be unsuccessful in its removal effort unless it also prevails on its fraudulent-joinder proposition as to Cove. That is so because 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a) ("Section 1446(a)") requires all defendants to join in or consent to the removal petition, Hardesty v. General Foods Corp., 608 F.Supp. 992 (N.D.Ill. 1985), with limited exceptions—one of them being a plaintiff's joinder of a defendant simply to keep the case out of the federal courts (see the extensive discussion in 1A Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 0.1612 (2d ed. 1985)). And here Cove has not joined with TWA in the removal petition.
On that fraudulent-joinder issue, TWA must fail. Darrases were among the passengers on the TWA plane hijacked at the Athens airport and held hostage by terrorists. They have sued Cove on the theory it—their travel agent—sold the air travel ticket in conjunction with TWA. Among other things Cove, like TWA, is charged with negligence in (Complaint ¶ 8(e)):
Failing to advise passengers that the security precautions and procedures in effect at the Athens Airport were inadequate and unsatisfactory for the safety of passengers.
This Court need not try (or even pretry) this case to determine that allegation is non-frivolous. People look to their travel agents to make plans for them—recommending (if not indeed selecting) airlines, routes, places to stop, places to...
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Smith v. Union Nat. Life Ins. Co.
...Fellhauer, 673 F.Supp. at 1447; Fields v. Reichenberg, 643 F.Supp. 777, 778 (N.D.Ill. 1986); Darras v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 617 F.Supp. 1068, 1069 (N.D.Ill.1985). See also Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Edward H. Cooper, 14A Federal Practice and Procedure § 3731, at 504-07 (......
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Bethesda Memorial Hosp., Inc., In re
...the petition [for removal] even if the basis for removal is a federal question." The district court then cites Darras v. Trans World Airlines, 617 F.Supp. 1068 (N.D.Ill.1985), an opinion where the district court sua sponte remanded a Warsaw Convention Treaty-based case to a state court beca......
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Spillers v. Tillman, Civil Action No. 5:96-cv-157(Br)(S).
...Fellhauer, 673 F.Supp. at 1447; Fields v. Reichenberg, 643 F.Supp. 777, 778 (N.D.Ill.1986); Darras v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 617 F.Supp. 1068, 1069 (N.D.Ill.1985). See also Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Edward H. Cooper, 14A Federal Practice and Procedure § 3731, at 504-07 (W......
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McNichols v. Johnson & Johnson
...frequently cautioned the district courts against pretrying a case to determine removal jurisdiction."); Darras v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 617 F.Supp. 1068, 1069 (N.D.Ill.1985) (observing that a "need not try (or even pretry) [a] case" to resolve allegations of fraudulent joinder).2 2. C......