Court Opinion

ID: 9448152
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 23:24:26.5817+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:18.675125
License: Public Domain

On Petition for Rehearing
PER CURIAM.
Relying on the well-settled principle that federal jurisdiction cannot be conferred by consent and may be questioned at any time, the appellant on petition for rehearing insists for the first time that the action was not removable under 28 United States Code § 1441 and § 1332, because the matter in controversy did not exceed the sum or value of $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs. The complaint on behalf of the five brothers and sisters of Mrs. Adams alleged in Paragraph 1 that defendant “is justly and truly indebted unto petitioners in the full sum of $50,000.00, together with legal interest thereon from date of judicial demand until paid.” The appellants rely upon the itemization of that amount in Paragraph 9. “Petitioners itemize their claims for damages for the pain and suffering of decedent, the economic value of her life, and petitioners’ loss of affection, companionship and assistance at the sum of $10,000.00 to each of petitioners, totaling $50,000.00.”
Professor Moore refers to the following as the classic statement of the rule:
“The settled rule is that when two or more plaintiffs having separate and distinct demands unite in a single suit, it is essential that the demand of each be of the requisite jurisdictional amount; but when several plaintiffs unite to enforce a single title or right in which they have a common and undivided interest, it is enough if their interests collectively equal the jurisdictional amount.”
Pinel v. Pinel, 1916, 240 U.S. 594, 596, 36 S.Ct. 416, 60 L.Ed. 817. See 1 Moore’s Federal Practice, Paragraph 0.97 [3], p. 891.
This case comes within the latter class since the five plaintiffs seek to enforce a single right of action for the wrongful death of their sister. Art. 2315, LSA-Civil Code; Reed v. Warren, 1931, 172 La. 1082, 136 So. 59; Texas & Pacific Ry. Co. v. Gentry, 1896, 163 U.S. 353, 360, 361, 16 S.Ct. 1104, 41 L.Ed. 186. The petition for rehearing is therefore
Denied.