UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

PECOS DIVISION

PATRICK GRAVES

V.

WPX ENERGY PERMIAN, LLC, AIPC 

ENERGY LLC, AIPC ENERGY, INC., 

DECCA CONSULTING, INC., PAUL 

STERNADEL, AND BILLY LALONDE

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Civil Action No. 4:20-cv-00021

DEFENDANT WPX ENERGY PERMIAN, LLC’S NOTICE OF REMOVAL

Defendant, WPX Energy Permian, LLC, (“WPX”), gives notice of removal of the civil 

action pending in the 109th Judicial District Court, Winkler County, Texas, styled Patrick Graves 

v. WPX Energy Permian, LLC; AIPC Energy LLC; AIPC Energy, Inc.; Decca Consulting, Inc.; 

Paul Sternadel; and Billy Lalonde, Cause No. DC20-17754, to the United States District Court 

for the Western District of Texas, Pecos Division. Contemporaneously herewith, WPX is filing 

a Notice of this Removal with the 109th Judicial District Court, Winkler County, Texas, and 

serving the Notice on all parties.

STATEMENT OF GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL

I. SERVICE OF PROCESS & TIMELINESS OF REMOVAL

1. WPX was served with process on February 25, 2020. Therefore, this Notice for 

Removal is timely filed under 28 U.S.C. §1446(b) within 30 days after the receipt by WPX of the 

first notice of the Plaintiff’s Original Petition. 

2. Decca Consulting, Inc. (“Decca”) was also served with process on February 25, 

2020. Decca consents to this removal.

3. Plaintiff has not served Defendants Billy Lalonde and Paul Sternadel. Because 

they have not been served, consent is not required from these unserved Defendants. See 28 

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U.S.C. §1446(b)(2)(A) (“all defendants who have been properly joined and served must join in 

or consent to the removal of the action”) (emphasis added); Moody v. Commercial Ins. Co., 753 

F. Supp. 198, 200 (N.D. Tex. 1990) (“All defendants need not join in the petition for removal 

within the third day time period if (1) the non-joining defendant has not been served with service 

of process at the time the removal petition is filed . . . .”).

4. Defendants AIPC Energy, LLC and AIPC Energy, Inc. are citizens of Texas, but 

their citizenship should be disregarded for the purpose of determining the right to remove and 

diversity jurisdiction because their joinder would be improper. Neither entity had any 

involvement in the operations or the employment relationships that are the subject of Plaintiff’s 

claims.

II. DIVERSITY JURISDICTION

5. The United States District Court has original jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §1332. 

This action is removable under 28 U.S.C. §1441(a) and (b). Removal of this action is proper 

because there is complete diversity of citizenship among all properly-joined parties and unserved 

parties, and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs. See 

Original Pet. ¶14 (“Plaintiffs seek monetary relief within the jurisdictional limits of this court 

and over $1,000,000.00.”).

6. Plaintiff Patrick Graves, the Plaintiff, is a citizen and resident of Mississippi. See 

Original Pet. ¶6.

7. Defendant WPX is a citizen of Delaware and Oklahoma. It is a limited liability 

company formed in Delaware with its principal place of business in Oklahoma. The sole 

member of WPX is WPX Energy, Inc., which is also a citizen of Delaware and Oklahoma: it is a 

Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Oklahoma. 

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8. Defendant Decca Consulting, Inc. is a citizen of Nevada and California: It is a 

corporation formed in Nevada with its principal place of business in California. 

9. Defendants AIPC Energy, LLC and AIPC Energy, Inc. are alleged to be citizens 

of Texas. See Original Pet. ¶9.

10. Unserved Defendants Billy Lalonde and Paul Sternadel are alleged to be citizens 

of Texas. See Original Pet. ¶9.

11. There is thus complete diversity of citizenship among Plaintiff and the properly 

joined defendants, as well as the unserved defendants. The unserved defendants’ inclusion as 

named defendants does not prevent removal under 28 U.S.C. 1441(b)(2) because they have not 

been properly joined and served. See Donnelly v. Nissan Motor Co., No. 5:19-CV-0882-JKP, 

2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 205932 (W.D. Tex. November 26, 2019), citing Reynolds v. Pers. Rep. of 

the Estate of Johnson, 139 F. Supp. 3d 838, 842 (W.D. Tex. 2015) (citing cases).

12. Moreover, the citizenship of the unserved defendants who are alleged to be Texas 

residents should be disregarded for the purpose of determining diversity jurisdiction because 

their joinder would be improper. A party is improperly joined if the plaintiff is unable to 

establish a cause of action against the party in state court. To establish improper joinder, the 

removing party must demonstrate either: (1) actual fraud in the pleading of jurisdictional facts, or 

(2) inability of the plaintiff to establish a cause of action against the party in state court. 

Smallwood v. Ill. Cent. R.R. Co., 385 F.3d 568, 573 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (citing Travis v. 

Irby, 326 F.3d 644, 646–47 (5th Cir. 2003)). If a plaintiff improperly joins a defendant, then the 

court may disregard the citizenship of that defendant, dismiss the defendant from the case, and 

exercise subject matter jurisdiction over the remaining diverse defendant. Flagg v. Stryker Corp., 

819 F.3d 132, 136 (5th Cir. 2016).Thus, the test for improper joinder is whether the defendant 

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has demonstrated that there is no possibility of recovery by the plaintiff against a defendant. 

Flagg v. Stryker Corp., 819 F.3d at 136. In most cases, to determine whether the plaintiff has any 

possibility of recovery against a defendant, the court should conduct a Rule 12(b)(6)-type 

analysis, looking initially at the allegations of the complaint to determine whether the complaint 

states a claim under state law against the in-state defendant. Id. (citing Smallwood v. Illinois 

Cent. R. Co., 385 F.3d 568, 573 (5th Cir. 2004)). However, where the plaintiff’s complaint has 

misstated or omitted discrete facts that would determine the propriety of joinder, the court may 

instead pierce the pleadings and conduct a summary inquiry. Id. (citing Smallwood at 573). 

13. In his Original Petition, Plaintiff improperly named Billy Lalonde and Paul 

Sternadel as the company men he believed to be working on the rig at the time of Plaintiff’s 

alleged accident. Neither Lalonde nor Sternadel were the company men on the rig at the time of 

the incidents alleged by Plaintiff. Plaintiff also improperly joined AIPC Energy, LLC and AIPC 

Energy, Inc., as neither entity had any involvement in the operations or the employment 

relationships that are the subject of Plaintiff’s claims. Both entities forfeited their existences in 

2015 and have no relation to this incident. Accordingly, Plaintiff has no legal basis for his claims 

against Lalonde, Sternadel, or either AIPC entity, and these improperly joined defendants should 

be dismissed.

III. VENUE

14. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. §1441(a) because the 109th

Judicial District Court, Winkler County, Texas, in which Cause No. DC20-17754 is pending, lies 

within the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Pecos Division.

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IV. JOINDER OR CONSENT OF ALL DEFENDANTS

15. For removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a), “all defendants who have been properly 

joined and served must join in or consent to the removal of the action.” 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1446(b)(2)(A). WPX and Decca are the only properly joined and served defendants, and they 

have each joined or consented to removal of this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(2)(A).

V. PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS

16. This Notice of Removal is signed by WPX’s counsel pursuant to Federal Rule of 

Civil Procedure 11. See 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a).

17. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(d), WPX will give notice of the filing of this Notice 

of Removal to Plaintiff and to the 109th Judicial District Court, Winkler County, Texas, in which 

Cause No. DC20-17754 is pending, by filing a Notice of Filing of Removal and serving this 

Notice of Filing upon Plaintiff’s counsel.

18. Along with this Notice of Removal, WPX has concurrently tendered the proper 

filing fee.

19. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a), the following documents are attached hereto: 

A. All executed process in the case; 

B. Plaintiff’s Original Petition; 

C. Defendant, WPX Energy Permian, LLC’s Original Answer to Plaintiff’s 

Original Petition;

D. Defendant Decca Consulting, Inc.’s Original Answer to Plaintiff’s 

Original Petition;

E. Docket sheet from state court action; 

F. An index of matters being filed; and

G. A list of all counsel of record, including addresses, telephone numbers and 

parties represented;

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PRAYER

WHEREFORE, WPX requests that the above-described action now pending in the 109th

Judicial District Court of Winkler County, Texas be removed to this Honorable Court.

Respectfully submitted,

By: /s/ David L. Pybus

 David L. Pybus

 State Bar No. 16418900

SD Bar No. 7519

dpybus@preisplc.com

 24 Greenway Plaza, Suite 2050

 Houston, Texas 77046

 Tel: (713) 355-6062 

 Fax: (713) 572-9129 

ATTORNEY-IN-CHARGE FOR WPX 

ENERGY PERMIAN, LLC

OF COUNSEL:

Alasdair A. Roberts

State Bar No.: 24068541

SD Bar No. 1197204

aroberts@preisplc.com

Elizabeth C. Cope

State Bar No. 24115825

ecope@preisplc.com

PREIS PLC

24 Greenway Plaza, Suite 2050

Houston, Texas 77046

Telephone: (713) 355-6062

Facsimile: (713) 572-9129

Case 4:20-cv-00021 Document 1 Filed 03/20/20 Page 6 of 7
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

In compliance with Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, I certify that on this 

the 20th day of March 2020, a true and correct copy of the above and foregoing document was 

served on all known counsel of record via electronic service:

Kurt Arnold

karnold@arnolditkin.com

Caj Boatright

cboatright@arnolditkin.com

Roland Christensen

rchristensen@arnolditkin.com

Joseph McGowin

jmcgowin@arnolditkin.com

ARNOLD & ITKIN LLP

6009 Memorial Drive

Houston, TX 77007

e-service@arnolditkin.com

Robert L. Craig

bobc@cthglawfirm.com

Marcy M. Erwin

merwin@ctghlawfirm.com

CRAIG, TERRILL, HALE & GRANTHAM, LLP

9816 Slide Road, Suite 201

Lubbock, TX 79424

/s/ David L. Pybus 

David L. Pybus

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