Hexagon Metrology Inc v. Omega Morgan Inc

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 10 HEXAGON METROLOGY, INC., CASE NO. C22-5988 MJP 11 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT AND 12 v. DISMISSING ACTION 13 OMEGA MORGAN, INC., 14 Defendant.

16 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment. (Dkt. No. 12.) Having reviewed the Motion and all supporting materials, the Court DENIES the Motion and DISMISSES this action without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

19 BACKGROUND 20 Plaintiff Hexagon Metrology, Inc. filed suit against Defendant Omega Morgan, Inc., seeking to recover for damages arising out of the loss of equipment stored at Omega’s storage facility in Fife Washington, in Pierce County. (Complaint (Dkt. No. 1).) Hexagon is a Delaware company with its principal place of business in Rhode Island. (Id. ¶ 1.) Omega is also a Delaware company with its principal place of business in Oregon. (Compl. ¶¶ 1-2.) Hexagon obtained entry of default and now moves for default judgment.

3 ANALYSIS 4 The Court finds that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this action and cannot grant the relief sought. See Ruhrgas AG v. Marathon Oil Co., 526 U.S. 574, 583 (1999) (noting that courts have an obligation to raise subject matter jurisdiction sua sponte). Hexagon invokes the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction under the diversity jurisdiction statute in 28 U.S.C. § 8 1332(a)(1), which requires complete diversity between the parties and an amount in controversy exceeding $75,000. While the Court is satisfied that the amount in controversy exceeds the threshold, the Court finds that the parties are not diverse. As alleged, both Plaintiff and Defendant are incorporated in Delaware. Under the diversity statute, “a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of any State by which it has been incorporated and of the State where it has its principal place of business.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). Although the two entities have principal places of business in different states, they are citizens of the same state—Delaware—by virtue of being incorporated there. The Court therefore cannot properly exercise diversity jurisdiction over this action. The Court DENIES the Motion and DISMISSES this action without prejudice.

18 The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all counsel.

19 Dated July 17, 2023.

A 21 Marsha J. Pechman United States Senior District Judge