Melissa Hart and John Hart v. Terminex International, a Delaware Corporation, Doing Business as Balantyne Pest Control

336 F.3d 541 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2003

Facts

Melissa and John Hart, Illinois citizens, sued Dow Chemical, DowElanco, and "Terminex International" (later identified as Terminix International Company L.P., a partnership with Illinois citizens as partners) in state court for injuries. Dow removed the case to federal court based on diversity, misrepresenting Terminix's citizenship. After eight years, the Seventh Circuit discovered that Terminix's partnership structure included Illinois citizens, destroying complete diversity.

Procedural history

The Harts filed their suit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on February 17, 1995. Dow Chemical Company and DowElanco, with Terminix's consent, removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in March 1995, based on diversity of citizenship. After seven years of litigation, the district court entered judgment for the defendants based on default admissions by the Harts. The Harts then appealed this judgment to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Issue

Does a federal court have subject matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship when one of the parties is a partnership whose members include citizens of the same state as the plaintiffs, despite initial misrepresentations of citizenship and a long period of litigation?

Holding

No, the federal court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because there is no complete diversity of citizenship between the parties. The court vacated the district court's judgment and remanded the case with instructions to dismiss for want of jurisdiction.

Rule

For diversity jurisdiction purposes, the citizenship of an unincorporated association or partnership is determined by the citizenship of all its members, including all layers of partners. Complete diversity requires that no plaintiff shares citizenship with any defendant.

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