Opinion ID: 2434
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Commencement of the Action, Removal, and Proceedings in the District Courts

Text: This action was commenced by the filing of a complaint in the Forrest County Circuit Court on July 20, 2007. The complaint alleges causes of action in malpractice and professional negligence against the Mississippi citizen defendants (Count I); negligence and gross negligence against Eli Lilly (Count II); strict liability in tort and failure to warn against Eli Lilly (Count III); liability under the Mississippi Extended Manufacturers Liability Doctrine against all defendants (Count IV); breach of implied warranty against all defendants (Count V); breach of express warranty against all defendants (Count VI); fraud against all defendants (Count VII); and fraud by concealment against all defendants (Count VIII). The complaint included the following specific allegations in paragraph four thereof: The Plaintiff specifically avers that the core claim alleged in this Complaint contends that the health care providers named as Defendants herein (to wit, Pine Belt Mental Health Care and the individual defendants Rahhal-Mohamed, Lamousin and Ulusarac) were professionally negligent and commitment [sic] medical malpractice in their treatment of the Plaintiff, with the claims alleged against the defendant Eil [sic] Lilly being primarily either a proximate cause of or a contributing factor to such professionally [sic] negligence, or otherwise alleging that Eli Lilly committed acts collaterally related to or causally connected to the alleged acts of professional negligence and medical malpractice. Accordingly, any attempt by any named Defendant herein to remove this case to federal court would be baseless in fact, frivolous and in contradiction to controlling and applicable legal authority. Thereafter, on December 14, 2007, Eli Lilly removed the action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. In its Notice of Removal, Eli Lilly asserted that Bounds had failed to comply with the requirements of the Mississippi Tort Claim Act, Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-11(1), which requires written notice containing specific information to be served within ninety days prior to filing suit on tort claims against governmental entities in Mississippi. Included in the Notice of Removal was the following: 19. Because Plaintiff did not provide timely and proper notice as required by Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-11 (2007), the Complaint is insufficient as a matter of law to state claims against Defendants Pine Belt Mental Health Care, Rahhal-Mohamed, Lamousin and Ulusarac[,] and those claims must be dismissed. Accordingly, Defendants Pine Belt Mental Health Care, Rahhal-Mohamed and Lamousin have been fraudulently and improperly joined as Defendants to defeat diversity and must be disregarded for purposes of determining diversity of citizenship for federal jurisdiction. Accordingly, Eli Lilly contended that jurisdiction in the Mississippi District Court was properly invoked on the basis of complete diversity of citizenship, since it was a citizen of Indiana and the sole remaining defendant, and plaintiff Bounds was a citizen of Mississippi. Bounds thereafter filed a motion to remand, and the Mississippi citizen defendants filed a motion to dismiss the action with respect to the claims pleaded against them.