Nelson v. Leighton

• Decision Date: 11 January 1949
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 3260.
• Citation: 82 F. Supp. 661
• Parties: NELSON et al. v. LEIGHTON et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

82 F. Supp. 661

NELSON et al. v. LEIGHTON et al.

Civil Action No. 3260.

United States District Court N. D. New York.

January 11, 1949.

Bliss & Bouck, of Schoharie, for plaintiff.

Rudd, Penberthy & Nelson, of Utica, for defendants Western Gateway Broadcasting Corporation and Winslow P. Leighton.

Borst, Smith, Benedict, O'Loughlin & Smith, of Schenectady, for defendant James E. O'Loughlin.

BRENNAN, Chief Judge.

There are pending before this Court several motions made by the parties, which have as their purpose the securing of several types of relief. Action thereon is deferred until the question of a remand raised through the medium of an order to show cause is determined, and that question alone is considered herein.

The point raised by the moving party on this motion is that this Court is without jurisdiction of this action, since no federal question is involved therein.

The action was originally started in the Supreme Court of the State of New York and was removed into this Court by proceedings had in December, 1948. The basis of such removal is that this suit is a civil action over which the District Court has original jurisdiction, and arises under the Constitution and laws of the United States, and under the Acts of Congress relating to commerce "* * * in that the complaint is predicated upon and raises questions of law involving the construction, interpretation and application of the Communications Act of 1934 47 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq. and the regulations and rules of the Federal Communications Commission."

The question of the existence in an action of a federal question, which is sufficient to confer jurisdiction upon a United States District Court and to warrant the removal of such suit to the latter court, has been the subject of continued controversy, at least since the case of Osborn v. Bank of the United States, 9 Wheat. 738, 6 L.Ed. 204. The basic right of removal is found in 28 U.S.C.A. § 1441(b), as follows:

"Any civil action of which the district courts have original jurisdiction founded on a claim or right arising under the Constitution, treaties or laws of the United States shall be removable without regard to the citizenship or residence of the parties. Any other such action shall be removable only if none of the parties in interest properly joined and served as defendants is a citizen of the State in which such action is brought."

The section above quoted is taken from 28 U.S.C.A. § 71, and it is to be noted that the quoted section, in substance, substitutes the word "founded" for the word "arising." The change in language emphasizes rather than changes the requirement that the federal question must, in fact, be a vital or essential element of the action in order that same may be removable. The difficulty encountered on this motion is not in determining what law applies, but rather in its application. All the litigants herein agree that the opinion of Judge Cardozo in Gully v. First National Bank, 299 U.S. 109, at pages 112 and 113, 57 S.Ct. 96, 97, 81 L.Ed. 70, sets up the tests to be applied in determining the existence of a federal question. The quotation is set out below:

"To bring a case within the statute, a right or immunity created by the Constitution or laws of the United States must be an element, and an essential one, of the plaintiff's cause of action (citing cases). The right or immunity must be such that it will be supported if the Constitution or laws of the United States are given one construction or effect, and defeated if they receive another (citing cases). A genuine and present controversy, not merely a possible or conjectural one, must exist with reference thereto (citing cases), and the controversy must be disclosed upon the face of the complaint, unaided by the answer or by the petition for removal (citing cases)."

The above quotation is accepted as a statement of the existing law since the right referred to therein as "an essential one" is construed to mean the same as "founded on a claim or right," as that term is used in Section 1441(b) above referred to. Just as a structure depends for its existence as such upon its foundation, so too this action must depend upon a claim or right arising under the laws of the United States. In other words, if this action may be maintained without the determination of a federal question, then this Court has no jurisdiction, since the action has a sufficient non-federal foundation to support it. To summarize, to give this Court jurisdiction, (a) this action must be founded upon a claim or right arising under the Constitution or laws of the United States; (b) it must be such that the construction or interpretation of the Constitution or a federal statute will support or defeat the action depending upon the construction or interpretation given by the Court on the trial of the action; (c) a genuine and present controversy must exist as to the construction or interpretation of the Constitution or of a statute of the United States; (d) the controversy must be disclosed upon the face of the complaint, unaided by the answer or petition for removal.

Since the problem involves the applicability of the law as above discussed, recourse must be made to the complaint herein to determine whether or not this Court has jurisdiction within the rules of law above referred to. The disclosures made in the complaint will be briefly referred to in general terms.

It appears that in 1936 plaintiff Nelson and defendant Leighton formed a copartnership under the name of Leighton and Nelson, and conducted an advertising agency at the City of Schenectady, New York. In 1939, the partners, acting jointly and through said partnership, organized the Western Gateway Broadcasting Corporation, which corporation obtained a license for and still operates radio station WSNY. Both partners held the same number of shares of stock in the corporation; were officers and directors therein, and co-operated as partners in the station enterprise.

In 1948, Leighton, without the knowledge of Nelson, proceeded to purchase a number of outstanding shares of stock of the corporation, and in the absence of Nelson caused the corporation to issue all of its unissued stock, which he purchased with partnership...