UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

LAURA LOOMER,

Plaintiff,

- against -

FACEBOOK, INC.,

Defendant.

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Case No.: 

Removed From: 

Circuit Court of the Fifteenth

Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach

County, Florida

Case No.: 50-2020-CA-002352-XXXXMB

DEFENDANT FACEBOOK, INC.’S NOTICE OF REMOVAL

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1441, and 1446, Defendant Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”)

files this Notice of Removal (“Notice”) and removes this action from the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit 

in and for Palm Beach County, Florida. Removal is based on diversity jurisdiction because 

complete diversity exists between Plaintiff Laura Loomer (“Ms. Loomer”), on the one hand, and 

Facebook on the other, and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.00. In support of this 

Notice, Facebook states as follows:

Background

1. Plaintiff Laura Loomer (“Ms. Loomer”) instituted this action in the Fifteenth 

Judicial Circuit Court in and for Palm Beach County on February 28, 2020, asserting claims for 

defamation, defamation per se, and defamation by implication, arising out of Facebook’s decision 

to remove Ms. Loomer’s Facebook account for violating its Community Standards, and several 

statements made by Facebook employees surrounding this removal. Attached as Exhibit 1 is a 

true and correct copy of the complaint in this action (hereinafter, the “State Court Complaint”). 
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2. Ms. Loomer previously filed a case in this Court against Facebook based on the 

exact same facts and allegedly defamatory statements. See Loomer v. Facebook, Inc., Case No. 

9:19-cv-80893-RS (S.D. Fla. 2019) (hereinafter, “Loomer I”). The Amended Complaint in 

Loomer I is almost identical to the State Court Complaint, which Facebook is now seeking to 

remove to this Court. See Ex. 2 (redline comparing Amended Complaint from Loomer I with State 

Court Complaint). 

3. Accordingly, in the accompanying Civil Cover Sheet, Facebook has marked this 

case as “related” to Loomer I. If upon removal this case is not randomly assigned to the Honorable 

Rodney Smith, who is currently presiding over Loomer I, Facebook requests that this Court 

transfer the case to Judge Smith. 

Removal Is Timely

4. Facebook has not yet been served with the State Court Complaint or any summons 

thereto. Removal is therefore timely pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b). 

5. Additionally, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 81(c)(2)(A), Facebook is not 

required to respond to the State Court Complaint following removal until 21 days after Ms. Loomer 

serves it with this pleading. See, e.g., Moss v. Bank of New York Tr. Co., No. C 10-1734 VRW, 

2010 WL 11575042, at *2 (N.D. Cal. June 30, 2010) (ruling that defendant was not subject to Rule 

81(c) until it was properly served, and because defendant had not been served, it was under no 

time constraint to file its motion to dismiss following removal from state court). 

6. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the proper 

place to file this Notice of Removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a) because it is the federal district 

court that embraces the place where the original action was filed and is pending.
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Subject Matter Jurisdiction

7. This Court has diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 because Plaintiff 

and Defendant have complete diversity of citizenship and the amount in controversy exceeds 

$75,000.00, exclusive of interests and costs. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). In addition, venue is proper 

in this Court because the state court matter is proceeding in Palm Beach County, located in this 

judicial district. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a).

A. Amount in Controversy

8. The amount in controversy requirement under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 is satisfied. The 

State Court Complaint alleges that Ms. Loomer’s claim is worth “in excess of $50,000,000.” Ex. 

1 at 10. Because this amount is greater than $75,000, this case meets the amount-in-controversy 

requirement for this Court’s jurisdiction set out in 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).

B. Diversity Jurisdiction

9. Diversity jurisdiction exists under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1) because Ms. Loomer and 

Facebook are citizens of different U.S. states. Ms. Loomer pleads in her State Court Complaint 

that she is a citizen and resident of the state of Florida. See Ex. 1 at ¶ 3. By contrast, Facebook is 

incorporated in the state of Delaware and has its principal place of business in Menlo Park, 

California. 

10. In addition, in her Amended Complaint in Loomer I, Ms. Loomer admitted that 

there is complete diversity of citizenship between her and Facebook. See Ex. 3 (Loomer I

Amended Complaint) at ¶ 1 (“This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant 

to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 under diversity of citizenship. The parties are citizens of different states

. . . .”). 
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11. Accordingly, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1)’s requirement for diversity jurisdiction is 

satisfied because this action is between parties from different U.S. states.

Notice

12. As required by 28 U.S.C. § 1446(d), Facebook is providing written notice of the 

filing of this Notice of Removal to Ms. Loomer, through her attorney and will also be filing a 

Notice of Filing a Notice of Removal with the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in and 

for Palm Beach County, Florida, where the action is currently pending. A true and correct copy 

of the Notice of Filing Notice of Removal is attached as Exhibit 4.

No Waiver

13. Facebook has additional defenses to this action and does not waive any defenses, 

including but not limited to the defense that Facebook has not yet been served with the State Court 

Complaint. 

Conclusion

This Court has subject-matter jurisdiction in this action because (i) complete diversity of 

citizenship exists between the parties; and (ii) more than the $75,000.00 jurisdictional threshold is 

at issue. Accordingly, Facebook, desiring to remove this case to the United States District Court 

for the Southern District of Florida, requests that the filing of this Notice of Removal with this 

Court and the filing the Notice of Removal with the Clerk of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court 

in and for Palm Beach County, Florida shall effect the removal of this case.

Dated: March 24, 2020 Respectfully submitted,

s/Brian W. Toth 

GELBER SCHACHTER & GREENBERG, P.A.

Brian W. Toth

Florida Bar No. 57708
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Natalia B. McGinn

Florida Bar No. 1011385

1221 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2010

Miami, Florida 33131

Phone: (305) 728-0965

btoth@gsgpa.com

nmcginn@gsgpa.com

DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP

Laura R. Handman*

Alison Schary*

Chelsea T. Kelly*

1919 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Suite 800

Washington, DC 20006

Phone: (202) 973-4224

laurahandman@dwt.com

alisonschary@dwt.com

chelseakelly@dwt.com

*Pro hac vice forthcoming

Counsel for Defendant Facebook, Inc.

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