Sopena v. Colejon Corp.

• Decision Date: 06 March 1996
• Docket Number: Civil No. 94-2249 (GG).
• Parties: Angel SOPEÑA and others, Plaintiffs, v. COLEJON CORPORATION, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

920 F. Supp. 259

Angel SOPEÑA and others, Plaintiffs, v. COLEJON CORPORATION, Defendant.

Civil No. 94-2249 (GG).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

March 6, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Shapiro & Lugo, Anibal Lugo Miranda, Hato Rey, PR, for plaintiffs.

Wallace Vazquez Sanabria, San Juan, PR, for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

GIERBOLINI, Senior District Judge.

Pending before this court are several motions filed by defendant Colejon Corporation ("Colejon") requesting, among other things, the dismissal of the case. Before addressing these motions, we must first determine if we have removal jurisdiction, that is, whether we have original subject matter jurisdiction in this case.¹

BACKGROUND

This action was commenced by seventeen (17) employees of Colejon in the Puerto Rico Superior Court, San Juan Part, to recover compensation owed to them for the worked performed during their meal time, "in violation of the provisions of labor laws regulating this matter." (See Complaint, docket entry # 1). Defendant removed the case from the state court based on diversity jurisdiction. Afterwards, defendant filed motions requesting the court to dismiss the case against plaintiffs for their lack of prosecution and cooperation in the discovery process or in the alternative to compel them to comply with the proposed discovery and impose sanctions on plaintiffs. Plaintiffs did not oppose the notice of removal nor have requested the case to be remanded. On June 1, 1995 we granted defendant's motion for removal.

Seven (7) days after the expiration of the deadline agreed by the parties² for amending the pleadings, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint asserting new claims for back wages, pursuant to Puerto Rico Law No. 379 of May 15, 1948, 29 L.P.R.A. §§ 271 et seq. They also claimed payment of an undetermined amount of compensation under the contract between defendant and the U.S. Navy for the rendering of maintenance services at its Roosevelt Roads Base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. (See, Amended Complaint, docket entry # 14). Defendants duly opposed.

On July 24, 1995 Colejon requested the dismissal of the complaint, reiterating the averments of its prior motions to dismiss, and asserting that Puerto Rico Employment Laws did not apply to this case because the United States had exclusive jurisdiction over plaintiffs' job situs, Roosevelt Roads Base. Plaintiffs failed once again to oppose defendant's motion. On September 28, 1995 the parties met with the court for a Trial Setting Conference. During said conference we addressed the jurisdictional issue regarding the fact that plaintiffs' individual claims did not meet the amount of $50,000. Consequently, we vacated and set aside our June 1, 1995 order of removal and ordered the parties to file briefs discussing whether plaintiffs' individual claims could be aggregated in order to comply with the jurisdictional prerequisite that the matter in controversy exceed $50,000.³ The parties were granted a simultaneous period of ten (10) days to file their briefs and five (5) days to reply.

Colejon filed a timely brief asserting that we had diversity jurisdiction and that since the complaint raised a federal question, we also had subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. However, plaintiffs did not file their brief nor replied to defendant's brief.

DIVERSITY OF CITIZENSHIP JURISDICTION

Diversity jurisdiction exists when the claims in the complaint are between citizens of different states and when the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $50,000, exclusive of interest and costs. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).

Regarding the first component, citizenship of the parties, the complaint only states that plaintiffs were employees of defendant for several years until it closed operations in Puerto Rico. Colejon's notice of removal asserts that defendant is a corporation organized under the laws of and with its principal place of business in Ohio, and that "based on knowledge information and belief, it is asserted that all Plaintiffs are residents of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico." (See Notice of Removal, docket entry # 1). Such a generalized allegation regarding plaintiffs citizenship is insufficient to assert diversity jurisdiction. Riebe v. National Loan Investors, L.P., 828 F.Supp. 453, 455 (N.D.Tex. 1993). See also, Rule 8(a) of the Fed. R.Civ.P. and Wilkinson v. U.S., 724 F.Supp. 1200, 1205 (W.D.N.C.1989). Hence, defendant, as the party seeking removal, has failed to make the required showing that we have diversity jurisdiction because complete diversity exists between the parties. See Owen Equip. & Erection Co. v. Kroger, 437 U.S. 365, 373-74, 98 S.Ct. 2396, 2402-03, 57 L.Ed.2d 274 (1978); Toste Farm Corp. v. Hadbury, Inc., 70 F.3d 640, 642 (1st Cir. 1995); Media Duplication Services Ltd. v. HDG Software Inc., 928 F.2d 1228, 1235 (1st Cir.1991); Fountain v. Black, 876 F.Supp. 1294 (S.D.Ga.1994). See also, Alexander v. Electronic Data Systems Corp., 13 F.3d 940, 949 (6th Cir.1994).

Even assuming that all plaintiffs are citizens of a state other than that of the defendant, the second component of diversity jurisdiction, the amount in controversy, is also lacking.

AGGREGATION OF CLAIMS

Claims of multiple plaintiffs against a single defendant, as in this case, can be aggregated for purposes of determining whether the jurisdictional amount requisite is present, only when they are common and undivided. Snyder v. Harris, 394 U.S. 332, 89 S.Ct. 1053, 22 L.Ed.2d 319 (1969); Byrd v. Corestates Bank, N.A., 39 F.3d 61 (3rd Cir. 1994); 14A Wright & Miller, supra, § 3704, pg. 71.1 However, when the claims are separate and distinct, multiple plaintiffs may not aggregate their claims for such purposes. On the contrary, each plaintiff must independently satisfy the jurisdictional amount. Zahn v. International Paper Company, 414 U.S. 291, 294-295, 94 S.Ct. 505, 508-509, 38 L.Ed.2d 511 (1973); Garza v. National Am. Ins. Co., 807 F.Supp. 1256 (M.D.La.1992). Claims of employees of the same employer have been consistently found to be separate and distinct, thus aggregation has been denied. See Thomson v. Gaskill, 315 U.S. 442, 62 S.Ct. 673, 86 L.Ed. 951 (1942); Wettre v. Hague, 81 F.Supp. 590 (D.C.Mass.1949), affd. 175 F.2d 395 (1st Cir.), cert. den. 338 U.S. 870, 70 S.Ct. 147, 94 L.Ed. 534; More v. Intelcom Support Services, Inc., 960 F.2d 466, 472-473 (5th Cir.1992); Griffith v. Sealtite Corp., 903 F.2d 495 (7th Cir.1990) (citing Zahn v. International Paper Company, supra).

In the present case, plaintiffs claims for overtime and back wages are distinct and separate. Each claim arises out of the individual employment relationship of each plaintiff-employee with defendant-employer, which presumably is also governed by individual employment contracts with Colejon.⁴ See More v. Intelcom Support Services, Inc., supra. Therefore, the amount owed to each plaintiff depends upon the hours worked by said individual employee, irrespective of the hours worked by the other plaintiffs. Consequently, whether one plaintiff prevails or fails in his claim has no bearing upon the other plaintiffs' claims.

In conclusion, this case is merely a joinder of independent causes of actions by distinct parties, whom for the sake of economy and convenience, joined against their employer to recover wages due individually to each plaintiff. Therefore, their claims cannot be aggregated for purposes of determining whether the jurisdictional amount requisite is present. See, Griffith v. Sealtite Corp., at 497 (citing Oliver v. Alexander, 6 Pet. 143, 8 L.Ed. 349 (1832)). Since in both the original and amended complaint, plaintiffs' individual claims range from $1,000 to $9,000, none of them meet the jurisdictional amount threshold. 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a), supra.

VALUE TO EITHER PARTY RULE

Colejon argues that we should adopt the "Value to Either Party Rule" in ascertaining diversity jurisdiction in this case because since he could be exposed to a judgment of nearly $105,000 in direct damages, the amount in controversy threshold would then be met.

In cases where the matter in controversy is readily definable in terms of dollars, the redress sought by the plaintiff will be precisely the same as the liability to which the defendant is exposed. 1 Federal Procedure, Access to District Court, Lawyers Ed., §§ 1:498, pg. 395. Therefore, in this type of cases "courts have typically looked at things from the plaintiff's standpoint, eyeing the benefit expected to accrue to the plaintiff as the best yardstick for measurement of the amount in controversy." Ferris v. General Dynamics Corp., 645 F.Supp. 1354, 1361 (D.R.I.1986).

However, when the amount in controversy is uncertain, or when the value to the plaintiff differs from the loss to the defendant, then the question of which value represents the amount in controversy for jurisdictional purposes arises. It has been in the context of actions to abate a nuisance, suits for declaratory or injunction relief or for any other equitable relief, that the "value to either party" or "defendant's viewpoint" rules have been considered by the courts. 14A Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, Jurisdiction, § 3703, pg. 60. See also, Illinois v. Milwaukee, 406 U.S. 91, 92 S.Ct. 1385, 31 L.Ed.2d 712 (1972); Oklahoma Retail Grocers Association v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 605 F.2d 1155, 1160 (10th Cir.1979) and cases cited; Hambell v. Alphagraphics Franchising, Inc., 779 F.Supp. 910, 912 (E.D.Mich.1991); Maloney v. Gesco Intl., Inc., 750 F.Supp. 959, 960 (N.D.Ill.1990); Bedell v. H.R.C. Ltd., 522 F.Supp. 732, 735 (E.D.Ky.1981).

The First Circuit, as well as district courts under its jurisdiction, have looked at the "defendant's viewpoint" rule in cases where the plaintiff sought equitable relief. See, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. United States Veterans Administration, 541 F.2d 119, 122 (1st Cir.1976); Williams v. Kleppe, 539 F.2d 803, 805 n. 1 (1st Cir.1976); Grotzke v....