Szuszalski v. Fields
| Decision Date | 13 November 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:19-cv-0250 RB-CG,1:19-cv-0250 RB-CG |
| Parties | SHANNON SZUSZALSKI, as personal representative for the ESTATE OF LINDA BARAGIOLA, and SHANNON SZUSZALSKI, individually, Plaintiff, v. RUDY FIELDS, SANDOVAL COUNTY, SHERIFF DOUGLAS C. WOOD, and JANET LOPEZ, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
This lawsuit arises out of the tragic death of Ms. Linda Baragiola, who was a close friend and neighbor of Defendant Janet Lopez. At Ms. Lopez's request, Ms. Baragiola went onto Ms. Lopez's property to check on her dogs after her home's security alarm was triggered. Law enforcement officials also arrived at the home and questioned Ms. Baragiola. As Ms. Baragiola was walking home, Defendant Rudy Fields, a law enforcement officer who was preparing to respond to a non-emergency call, backed his police vehicle into Ms. Baragiola and ran her over.
Ms. Shannon Szuszalski, on behalf of herself and as personal representative of the Estate of Ms. Baragiola (Plaintiffs), filed a lawsuit against Ms. Lopez, Mr. Fields, the Sandoval County Board of Commissioners (Sandoval County), and Sheriff Douglas Wood in state court. Mr. Fields, Sandoval County, and Sheriff Wood (the County Defendants) removed the lawsuit to federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1441(c). In their notice of removal, they stated that Ms. Lopez consented to the removal, but Ms. Lopez did not sign the notice. She did, however, file a motion to dismiss, a jury trial demand, a separate notice of consent, and a brief opposing Plaintiffs' motion to remand.
Plaintiffs now contend that this case should be remanded because Ms. Lopez did not independently and unambiguously consent to removal, either by joining the Notice of Removal or by filing her consent within 30 days of the date she was served. The Court finds that the County Defendants' indication of Ms. Lopez's consent, coupled with her own filings in federal court, are sufficient to establish unanimous and timely consent to removal. Accordingly, the Court will deny Plaintiffs' motion to remand.
On January 25, 2019, Plaintiffs filed their original lawsuit in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court of New Mexico, bringing claims under the New Mexico Constitution and the New Mexico Tort Claims Act (NMTCA). (Doc. 1-A-1.) Plaintiffs properly served Mr. Fields, Sandoval County, and Ms. Lopez on February 21, 2019, and Sheriff Wood on February 27, 2019. (See Docs. 1-A-2; 15-1.) On March 6, 2019, Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint and added new claims under the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Defendants received electronic notice the same day. (See Docs. 1-A-3 (Am. Compl.); 1-A-4.)
On March 18, 2019, Ms. Lopez filed a Peremptory Election to Excuse Judge in the state court lawsuit. (See Doc. 1-A-5 at 4.) On the same day, counsel for Ms. Lopez emailed counsel for Plaintiffs and asked for an extension of the due date to the discovery requests Plaintiffs had served on her. (See Docs. 15 at 3; 15-2.) On March 19, 2019, the Clerk of the District court filed a Notice of Judge Assignment, assigning State District Judge John F. Davis to Plaintiffs' state lawsuit. (See Doc. 15-3 at 1.) Later that afternoon, Ms. Lopez filed a motion to dismiss in lieu of an answer. (See id.; see also Doc. 1-A-5 at 6-15.)
On March 21, 2019, the County Defendants, who are all represented by the same attorney, removed the lawsuit to this Court. (Doc. 1.) In the Notice of Removal, the County Defendantsasserted that Ms. Lopez, who is represented by a different attorney, consented to removal on March 19, 2019. (Id. at 3.) Ms. Lopez's attorney did not sign the Notice of Removal. (See id.) After the case was removed to this Court, Ms. Lopez filed an Amended Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 4) and a jury trial demand (Doc. 6).
On April 17, 2019, Plaintiffs' attorney emailed counsel for Defendants to request their position on Plaintiffs' proposed motion to remand. (See Docs. 15 at 5; 15-5.) That afternoon, Ms. Lopez filed a Notice of Consent to Removal to Federal Court. (Doc. 12.) Plaintiffs' filed their motion to remand on April 19, 2019. (Doc. 15.)
A defendant may remove a civil action from state to federal court if the action "satisfies the requirements for original federal jurisdiction . . . ." Padilla v. Am. Modern Home Ins. Co., 282 F. Supp. 3d 1234, 1250 (D.N.M. 2017) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a); Huffman v. Saul Holdings LP, 194 F.3d 1072, 1076 (10th Cir. 1999)). A defendant must file the notice of removal "within thirty days after receipt by the defendant of a copy of a pleading or other paper from which it may first be ascertained that the case is one which is removable." Zambrano v. N.M. Corr. Dep't, 256 F. Supp. 3d 1179, 1181 (D.N.M. 2017) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(1)).
When the plaintiff names and serves multiple defendants, all defendants "must join in or consent to the removal of the action." 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(2)(A). A plaintiff may move to remand the case to state court on the basis of a defect in the removal process, including a failure of all defendants to consent to removal. Padilla, 282 F. Supp. 3d at 1251, 1254-55. The rule that all defendants must consent to removal "is commonly known as the 'unanimity rule.'" Zambrano, 256 F. Supp. 3d at 1181 (citing Brady v. Lovelace Health Plan, 504 F. Supp. 2d 1170, 1173 (D.N.M. 2007)).
"Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction; thus, there is a presumption against removal jurisdiction, which the defendant seeking removal must overcome." Id. at 1182 (citing Laughlin v. Kmart Corp., 50 F.3d 871, 873 (10th Cir. 1995), abrogated on other grounds by Dart Cherokee Basin Op. Co. LLC v. Owens, 574 U.S. 81 (2014)). "All doubts are to be resolved against removal." Id. (quoting Fajen v. Found. Reserve Ins. Co., 683 F.2d 331, 333 (10th Cir. 1982)). The removing defendant bears the burden of establishing subject-matter jurisdiction. Id.
When Plaintiffs filed their Amended Complaint on March 6, 2019, with new federal constitutional and statutory claims, their civil action became removable pursuant to the Court's federal question jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The County Defendants timely removed the lawsuit on March 21, 2019. See 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(1). The parties agree that under the relevant statutory framework, all then-properly served defendants were required to consent to removal. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1446(b)(2)(A)-(B). The parties do not agree on the form of or time frame for that consent.
In their Notice of Removal, the County Defendants stated that (Doc. 1 at 3.) Plaintiffs argue that this assertion of Ms. Lopez's consent, without more, is insufficient to establish unanimity. (Doc. 15 at 8-12.) Both the County Defendants and Ms. Lopez oppose Plaintiffs' motion and argue that one defendant's assertion of another defendant's consent is sufficient. (Docs. 25; 26.)
The relevant portion of the removal statute provides: "When a civil action is removed solely under section 1441(a), all defendants who have been properly joined and served mustjoin in or consent to the removal of the action." Id. § 1446(b)(2)(A) (emphasis added). The first part of the parties' dispute centers on the meaning of "join in or consent."
This issue is not novel—there is a decades-old circuit split regarding how codefendants must consent to removal. Three circuits—the Second, Fifth, and Seventh—have found that all defendants must file independent and unambiguous notice that they consent to removal, generally either by signing the notice of removal itself or by filing a clear, separate consent later.1 Pietrangelo v. Alvas Corp., 686 F.3d 62, 66 (2d Cir. 2012) (); Roe v. O'Donohue, 38 F.3d 298, 301 (7th Cir. 1994), abrogated on other grounds by Murphy Bros. v. Michetti Pipe Stringing, Inc., 526 U.S. 344 (1999) (); Getty Oil Corp. v. Ins. Co. of N. Am., 841 F.2d 1254, 1262 n.11 (5th Cir. 1988) (). Four circuits—the Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth—have found that the removing defendant may "vouch" for the consent of the non-removing defendants, though in the Fourth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuit cases, the non-removing defendants later filed something—a notice of consent or a motion or brief indicating a willingness to litigate in the federal forum—indicating consent.2 Mayo v. Bd.of Educ. of Prince George's Cty., 713 F.3d 735, 740-42 (4th Cir. 2013) (); Christiansen v. W. Branch Cmty. Sch. Dist., 674 F.3d 927, 932-33 (8th Cir. 2012) (); Harper v. AutoAlliance Int'l, Inc., 392 F.3d 195, 201-02 (6th Cir. 2004) (); Proctor v. Vishay...
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