Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-06121/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-06121-1/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Boyden World Corporation
Defendant
Jeff DeFazio
Plaintiff
Dick McCallister
Defendant
RAM SF LLC
Defendant
William H. Clark Associates, Inc.
Defendant

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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 DISMISSING CASE WITH 

LEAVE TO AMEND

Noting that the complaint failed to allege the citizenship of any of the parties, the Court 

previously ordered Plaintiff Jeff DeFazio to show cause as to why this case should not be 

dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. ECF No. 18. DeFazio filed a timely response to 

the order to show cause in which his counsel declares that, if given leave to do so, he would 

amend the complaint to allege the citizenship of DeFazio and Defendants Dick McCallister, RAM 

SF LLC, and Boyden World Corporation. ECF No. 24 at 1-2.

As to RAM SF LLC, the declaration states that McCallister, an Illinois citizen, “is the sole 

manager of the LLC, as stated on the California Secretary of State’s website. Because the sole 

member of the LLC is domiciled in Illinois, the LLC would also be a citizen of Illinois, and I 

would amend the complaint accordingly.” Id. at 2 (emphasis added). It is not clear whether 

DeFazio intends to allege that McCallister is the sole member, or only the sole manager, of the 

LLC. This distinction is important because “an LLC is a citizen of every state of which its 

owners/members are citizens,” Johnson v. Columbia Properties Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 

899 (9th Cir. 2006), and “the citizenship of an LLC’s managers is irrelevant when determining its 

citizenship, unless the managers are members as well,” Neuport Assocs., LLC v. Newton, No. CV 

16-8738 PA (FFMx), 2016 WL 7176573, at *2 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 9, 2016). The document submitted 

Case 4:19-cv-06121-JST Document 31 Filed 03/03/20 Page 1 of 2
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

by DeFazio from the Secretary of State indicates that there is one manager, but it is silent as to the 

number of members. ECF No. 24 at 4. In addition, the record contains conflicting information: 

Defendants filed a disclosure statement indicating that William H. Clark Associates, Inc. “is the 

sole owner of defendant RAM SF LLC.” ECF No. 17 at 2. The record is silent as to the 

citizenship of William H. Clark Associates, Inc.

In light of the above, the Court remains unable to determine the citizenship of RAM SF 

LLC, and it therefore continues to be unable to determine whether it has diversity jurisdiction over 

this case. Accordingly, the case is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. If DeFazio 

wishes to amend his complaint, he must do so by March 20, 2020. If no amended complaint is 

filed by that date, the Court will enter judgment and close the file.

The case management conference currently scheduled for March 24, 2020, is continued to 

May 26, 2020. A joint case management statement is due May 19, 2020. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: March 3, 2020

______________________________________

JON S. TIGAR

United States District Judge

Case 4:19-cv-06121-JST Document 31 Filed 03/03/20 Page 2 of 2