UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA

FORT WAYNE DIVISION

CINDY WALKER, )

)

Plaintiff, )

)

v. ) CAUSE NO. 1:13-CV-92

)

ST. JUDE MEDICAL, INC.; ADVANCED )

NEUROMODULATION SYSTEMS, INC. )

d/b/a St. Jude Medical Neuromodulation; )

OM GROUP, INC.; and EAGLEPICHER )

MEDICAL POWER, LLC; )

)

Defendants. )

OPINION AND ORDER

This case was filed in this Court on March 29, 2013, based on diversity jurisdiction

pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). (Docket # 1.) The Complaint alleges that Defendant “OM

Group, Inc. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Delaware, having its

headquarters located” in Ohio and that Defendant “EaglePicher Medical Power, LLC is a limited

liability company organized and existing under the laws of Delaware, having its principal place

of business located” in Missouri. (Compl. ¶¶ 6-7.) 

The Complaint, however, is inadequate for two reasons. First, as to Defendant OM

Group, Inc., corporations “are deemed to be citizens of the state in which they are incorporated

and of the state in which they have their principal place of business.” N. Trust Co. v. Bunge

Corp., 899 F.2d 591, 594 (7th Cir. 1990) (emphases added); see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). The

term “principal place of business” refers to the corporation’s “nerve center”—the place where a

corporation’s officers direct, control, and coordinate the corporation’s activities. Hertz Corp. v.

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Friend, 130 S. Ct. 1181, 1192 (2010). Thus, the Court must be apprised of both facts with

respect to Defendant OM Group, Inc.—its state of incorporation and the state in which its

principal place of business, rather than its headquarters, is located.

As to the citizenship of EaglePicher Medical Power, LLC, a limited liability company’s

citizenship “for purposes of . . . diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its members.” 

Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998). Therefore, the Court must be advised

of the citizenship of all the members of EaglePicher Medical Power, LLC to ensure that none of

its members share a common citizenship with Plaintiff. Hicklin Eng’g, L.C. v. Bartell, 439 F.3d

346, 347 (7th Cir. 2006). Moreover, citizenship must be “traced through multiple levels” for

those members of EaglePicher Medical Power, LLC who are a partnership or a limited liability

company, as anything less can result in a dismissal or remand for want of jurisdiction. Mut.

Assignment & Indem. Co. v. Lind-Waldock & Co., LLC, 364 F.3d 858, 861 (7th Cir. 2004). As

such, alleging that EaglePicher Medical Power, LLC is organized under the laws of Delaware

and has its principal place of business in Missouri is insufficient to establish its citizenship.

Therefore, Plaintiff Cindy Walker is ORDERED to supplement the record by filing an

Amended Complaint on or before April 16, 2013, properly alleging the citizenship of Defendants

OM Group, Inc. and EaglePicher Medical Power, LLC and tracing the citizenship of all

unincorporated associations through all applicable layers of ownership.

SO ORDERED.

Enter for this 2nd day of April, 2013.

/S/ Roger B. Cosbey 

Roger B. Cosbey,

United States Magistrate Judge

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