Best Western International Incorporated v. OP Hotel LLC

1 WO 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Best Western International Incorporated, No. CV-23-01166-PHX-JAT 10 Plaintiff, ORDER v. OP Hotel LLC, et al., 13 Defendants.

15 “Inquiring whether the court has jurisdiction is a federal judge’s first duty in every case.” Belleville Catering Co. v. Champaign Market Place, L.L.C., 350 F.3d 691, 693 (7th Cir. 2003). In this case, the jurisdictional allegations for all Defendants are made on “information and belief.” Specifically, the complaint alleges: “[u]pon information and belief, the members of OP Hotel are residents of Syosset, New York; Chantilly, Virginia; Olathe, Kansas; and Lenexa, Kansas”, “[u]pon information and belief Nedunilam is a resident of Syosset, New York; Olathe, Kansas; or Lenexa, Kansas”, and “Defendant Jane Doe Nedunilam is Defendant Nedunilam’s spouse and upon information and belief, is also a resident of Syosset, New York; Olathe, Kansas; or Lenexa, Kansas.” (Doc. 1 at 1-2).

24 While alleging jurisdiction on information and belief is permissible at the pleading stage in this circuit, the Court may require that jurisdiction be established after allowing discovery. Carolina Cas. Ins. Co. v. Team Equip., Inc., 741 F.3d 1082, 1088 (9th Cir. 2014). Accordingly, the Court will require Plaintiff to take discovery and by the deadline set forth below, file a jurisdictional supplement that proves: 1) the members of the limited liability company on the date the complaint was filed; 2) the citizenship of each of the || members of the limited liability company on the date the complaint was filed; and 3) the || citizenship of each of the individual defendants on the date the complaint was filed. See 4|| Johnson yv. Columbia Properties Anchorage, L.P., 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006); || NewGen, LLC v. Safe Cig, LLC, 840 F.3d 606, 611 (9th Cir. 2016); Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas 6|| Global Group, L.P., 541 U.S. 567, 570-71 (2004).

7 Accordingly, 8 IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff must file a jurisdictional supplement by December 9|| 22, 2023, establishing federal subject matter jurisdiction.

10 Dated this 17th day of July, 2023.

12 A James A. Teilborg 14 Senior United States District Judge _2-