United States District Court, C.D. California
Present: The Honorable R. GARY KLAUSNER, UNITED STATES
DISTRICT JUDGE
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
Proceedings:
IN CHAMBERS - COURT ORDER
Before
the Court is a Notice of Removal filed on December 23, 2019,
by Defendant CEC Entertainment, Inc.
(“Defendant”). Defendant asserts that this Court
has subject matter jurisdiction on the basis of the
Court's diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §
1332.
Federal
courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, having subject
matter jurisdiction only over matters authorized by the
Constitution and Congress. See, e.g., Kokkonen
v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct.
1673, 1675, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994). A suit filed in state
court may be removed to federal court if the federal court
would have had original jurisdiction over the suit. 28 U.S.C.
§ 1441(a). A removed action must be remanded to state
court if the federal court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.
28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). “The removal statute is
strictly construed against removal jurisdiction, and the
burden of establishing federal jurisdiction falls to the
party invoking the statute.” California ex rel.
Lockyer v. Dynegy, Inc., 375 F.3d 831, 838 (9th Cir.
2004) (citing Ethridge v. Harbor House Rest., 861
F.2d 1389, 1393 (9th Cir. 1988)). “Federal jurisdiction
must be rejected if there is any doubt as to the right of
removal in the first instance.” Gaus v. Miles,
Inc., 980 F.2d 564, 566 (9th Cir. 1992). “The
defendant also has the burden of showing that it has complied
with the procedural requirements for removal.”
Riggs v. Plaid Pantries, Inc., 233 F.Supp.2d 1260,
1264 (D. Or. 2001).
Here,
Defendant's Notice of Removal appears untimely.
“[A] proper removal notice must be filed within 30 days
of service of the plaintiff's complaint.”
Parrino v. FHP, Inc., 146 F.3d 699, 703 (9th Cir.
1998). “If the case stated by the initial pleading is
not removable, a notice of removal may be filed within thirty
days after receipt by the defendant, through service or
otherwise, of a copy of an amended pleading, motion, order or
other paper from which it may first be ascertained that the
case is one which is or has become removable . . . .”
28 U.S.C. § 1446(b). Failure to comply with the
statutory time limit bars removal. See, e.g., N. Ill. Gas
Co. v. Airco Indus. Gases, 676 F.2d 270, 273 (7th Cir.
1982). As with all other requirements for removal
jurisdiction, the defendant bears the burden of proving the
timeliness of its removal and “[s]everal courts have
noted that the thirty-day time limit for petitioning for
removal will be strictly construed against a
defendant.” Roberson v. Orkin Exterminating
Co., 770 F.Supp. 1324, 1328 (N.D. Ind. 1991) (citations
omitted).
Defendant
alleges in the Notice of Removal that Plaintiff Michelle
Reyes (“Plaintiff”) filed her action in state
court on October 7, 2019. The Notice of Removal does not
state when Plaintiff served Defendant with a copy of the
Complaint, but it does state that Defendant filed its answer
on December 3, 2019. Defendant does not allege that the
Notice of Removal is timely.
The
Court therefore concludes that Defendant has failed to allege
sufficient facts to establish the timeliness of the filing of
the Notice of Removal. The failure to allege facts necessary
to establish the timeliness of the removal renders the
removal procedurally defective. Defendant has failed to meet
its burden of showing that it has complied with the
procedural requirements for removal. See Harris v.
Bankers Life & Cas. Co., 425 F.3d 689, 694 (9th Cir.
2005).
For the
foregoing reasons, the Notice of Removal is procedurally
defective. See 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(1).
Accordingly, this action is remanded to state court for
failure to comply with the removal requirements of 28 U.S.C.
§ 1446. See 28 U.S.C. ยง 1447(c). The Court
stays this order until January 10, 2020. If Plaintiff wishes
to waive the procedural defect and, as a result, remain in
federal court, she must file a Notice of Waiver of Procedural
Defects no later than January 9, 2020. If Plaintiff does not
file such a Notice, the Court will conclude that Plaintiff
has not waived the ...