Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-06121/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-06121-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 442
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Employment
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-(Citizenship)

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JEFF DEFAZIO,

Plaintiff,

v.

BOYDEN WORLD CORPORATION, et 

al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 19-cv-06121-JST 

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: 

SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION

Plaintiff Jeff DeFazio’s complaint does not contain the jurisdictional statement required by 

Civil Local Rule 3-5. See ECF No. 1. He alleges only state-law claims, id., and his amended civil 

cover sheet asserts federal jurisdiction on the basis of diversity. ECF No. 3. The amended civil 

cover sheet indicates that DeFazio is a citizen of California and that Defendants are citizens of 

another state.1 Id.

However, the complaint does not allege the citizenship of the parties. For example, it 

alleges the residence of DeFazio and Defendant Dick McCallister, ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 1, 4, but a 

“natural person’s state citizenship is . . . determined by her state of domicile, not her state of 

residence. A person’s domicile is her permanent home, where she resides with the intention to 

remain or to which she intends to return.” Kanter v. Warner-Lambert Co., 265 F.3d 853, 857 (9th 

Cir. 2001). Likewise, the complaint alleges that Defendant “RAM SF LLC is a limited liability 

company licensed to do business in California and located in San Francisco, California,” ECF No. 

1 ¶ 3, but it fails to allege the identity or citizenship of any of the members of the limited liability 

 

1 DeFazio’s original civil cover sheet indicated that Defendants were citizens both of California 

and of another state. ECF No. 1-1.

Case 4:19-cv-06121-JST Document 18 Filed 12/23/19 Page 1 of 2
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

company (“LLC”), which the Court must consider to determine the LLC’s citizenship. Johnson v. 

Columbia Props. Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006). As to Defendant Boyden 

World Corporation, the complaint alleges only that it “do[es] business in San Francisco, 

California,” and is “headquartered in New York,” ECF No. 1 ¶ 2, but a corporation is considered a 

citizen of every state in which it has been incorporated and of the “state where it has its principal 

place of business,” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1).

“Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. They possess only that power authorized 

by Constitution and statute[.]” Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 

(1994). This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over a case only if the complaint alleges a 

federal cause of action or the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 and the parties are citizens 

of different states. 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (“The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil 

actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.”); 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) 

(“The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in 

controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000 . . . and is between . . . citizens of different 

States[.]”). The burden of establishing federal subject matter jurisdiction rests on the party 

seeking to invoke it. 

Because the citizenship of the parties is unknown, the Court cannot determine whether it 

has subject matter jurisdiction over this case. DeFazio is ordered to show cause, within 21 days of 

the date of this order, as to why this case should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter 

jurisdiction. If Defendants wish to respond, they may file a responsive brief within seven days 

thereafter.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 23, 2019

______________________________________

JON S. TIGAR

United States District Judge

Case 4:19-cv-06121-JST Document 18 Filed 12/23/19 Page 2 of 2