UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL CIVIL ACTION MANAGEMENT & SPECIALISTS, INC. VERSUS RICHARD W. LEE, ET AL. NO. 22-00107-BAJ-SDJ RULING AND ORDER On November 23, 2022, the Magistrate Judge issued a Report And Recommendation (Doc. 22, the “R&R”) recommending that the above-captioned action be remanded to the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the alleged basis for federal jurisdiction is a counterclaim by Defendant Richard Lee. The law is clear that a counterclaim cannot provide the basis for federal question jurisdiction. Metro Ford Truck Sales, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co.,

(5th Cir. 1998) “When an action is brought to federal court through the § 1441 mechanism, for both removal and original jurisdiction, the federal question must be presented by plaintiff's complaint as it stands at the time the petition for removal is filed and the case seeks entry into the federal system. It is insufficient that a federal question has been raised as a matter of defense or as a counterclaim.” (quotation marks omitted)). Defendants—who sought remand-~-object to the R&R in part, stating that they “emphatically agree with ... the recommendation that this matter be remanded,” but nonetheless disagree with the Magistrate Judge’s determination that they are not entitled to attorneys’ fees incurred as a result of their brief interlude

in federal court. (Doc. 28 at /{ 4-6). Upon de novo review, and having carefully considered the Notice of Removal (Doc. 1), the parties’ memoranda setting forth their various arguments and respective positions regarding the Court’s exercise of jurisdiction over this action, Defendants’ objection to the R&R, and related filings, the Court APPROVES the Magistrate Judge’s Report And Recommendation and ADOPTS it as the Court’s opinion in this matter. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion To Remand And For Attorneys’ Fees And Costs (Doc. 6), be and is hereby GRANTED IN PART and that this action be and is hereby REMANDED to the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In all other respects Defendants’ Motion be and is hereby DENIED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion To Realign The Parties, Or, Alternatively, Request To Sever The State Law Claims (Doc. 8) be and is hereby DENIED. Judgment shall issue separately. omnis Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this day of December, 2022 ad

JUDGE BRIAN A. JACKSON UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA