UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA

FORT WAYNE DIVISION

JERRY J. FOWLER and )

MICHELE FOWLER, )

)

Plaintiffs, )

)

v. ) CAUSE NO. 1:13-CV-126

)

NEW WERNER CO. d/b/a Werner Co., a )

Delaware corporation; NEW WERNER )

HOLDING CO. (DE), LLC d/b/a Werner )

Holding Co.; LOWE’S COMPANIES, INC., )

a North Carolina corporation; and LOWE’S )

HOME CENTERS, INC., a North Carolina )

corporation; )

)

Defendants. )

OPINION AND ORDER

This case was filed in this Court on April 22, 2013, based on diversity jurisdiction

pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). (Docket # 1.) Upon reviewing the original complaint, the

Court found the allegations of Defendant New Werner Holding Co. (DE), LLC’s (“Werner

Holding”) citizenship inadequate to establish diversity jurisdiction because Plaintiffs did not

allege the citizenship of Werner Holding’s members, which determines Werner Holding’s

citizenship. (Docket # 3); see Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998) (noting

that “the citizenship of an LLC for purposes of [ ] diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its

members”). As such, Plaintiffs were directed to file an amended complaint within twenty days

(Docket # 3), which they subsequently did (Docket # 4). The Amended Complaint alleges that

“[u]pon information and belief, no member of Werner Holding is a citizen of Indiana. Upon

information and belief, the members of Werner Holding are citizens of New York, Illinois,

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Delaware, Connecticut, and/or the United Kingdom.” (Am. Compl. ¶ 4.)

The Amended Complaint, however, is still insufficient to establish Werner Holding’s

citizenship because it is well-settled that “[a]llegations of federal subject matter jurisdiction may

not be made on the basis of information and belief, only personal knowledge.” Yount v. Shashek,

No. Civ. 06-753-GPM, 2006 WL 4017975, at *10 n.1 (S.D. Ill. Dec. 7, 2006) (citing Am.’s Best

Inns, Inc. v. Best Inns of Abilene, L.P., 980 F.2d 1072, 1074 (7th Cir. 1992)); Ferolie Corp. v.

Advantage Sales & Mktg., LLC, No. 04 C 5425, 2004 WL 2433114, at *1 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 28,

2004); Hayes v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC, No. 02 C 9106, 2003 WL 187411, at *2 (N.D.

Ill. Jan. 21, 2003); Multi-M Int’l, Inc. v. Paige Med. Supply Co., 142 F.R.D. 150, 152 (N.D. Ill.

1992). Consequently, Plaintiffs must amend their complaint to allege the citizenship of Werner

Holding’s members on personal knowledge rather than information and belief. And, rather than

merely alleging that none of Werner Holding’s members are Indiana citizens, and then alleging

what those members’ citizenships are without identifying them, Plaintiffs should affirmatively

allege who Werner Holding’s members are and what their citizenship is. 

Therefore, Plaintiffs are ORDERED to supplement the record by filing a Second

Amended Complaint on or before June 7, 2013, properly alleging on personal knowledge the

members of Defendant New Werner Holding Co. (DE), LLC and their citizenship.

SO ORDERED.

Enter for this 24th day of May, 2013.

/S/ Roger B. Cosbey 

Roger B. Cosbey,

United States Magistrate Judge

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