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Tag Archives: Federal Jurisdiction

Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Removal – Diversity – Turkish National – Labor & Employment

Sonoco Products Co. v. Guven Even though the Turkish defendant accepted a job in South Carolina and listed an S.C. address on an application to renew his re-entry permit, since defendant was not domiciled in South Carolina when this lawsuit was filed, there is diversity of citizenship between the parties.

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Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice Claim – Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Patent Law – Expert Affidavit

Weil v. Killough The plaintiff-client alleges that the defendant-attorney, who also served as the client’s attorney-in-fact, failed to inform the client when the Patent and Trademark Office sent the attorney notice that a 7.5-year maintenance fee was due on the client’s patent.

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Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Diversity – Interpleader – Insurance Proceeds – Non-Diverse Counterclaim Defendant – Crossclaim — Domestic Dispute

Barber v. American Family Home Insurance Co. Plaintiff Nancy Barber filed a breach of contract action against the defendant-insurer after the insurer made a check for insurance proceeds payable to both Nancy Barber and Kelly Barber.

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Tort/Negligence – Defamation – Labor & Employment – Wrongful Termination – Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Diversity – Supervisors

Ragin v. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. of GA Contrary to defendants’ argument, Yost v. City of Charleston (D.S.C. Nov. 24, 2009) does not stand for the proposition that a plaintiff may not sue co-workers for a defamatory statement made in connection with the plaintiff’s termination if the statements were made within the course and scope of their employment.

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Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Diversity — Remand – Tort/Negligence – Storage Facility Manager

Doe v. OwenMcClelland LLC Plaintiff alleges that she was kidnapped, beaten, held against her will, and raped while a customer on the premises of the All-Safe Storage facility in Seneca. Although defendants contend that the facility manager was fraudulently joined as a defendant in order to defeat diversity jurisdiction, plaintiff has alleged that the manager had sufficient control over the facility to establish the possibility of maintaining a cause of action against her.

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Labor & Employment – Civil Rights — Race Discrimination Claim – Federal Jurisdiction – State Court — Removal

Bullock v. Napolitano The 4th Circuit upholds dismissal of this Title VII race discrimination suit filed by an African-American who was dismissed from the federal air marshal training program; the U.S. did not consent to be sued in North Carolina state court and removal of the suit to federal court, under the doctrine of derivative jurisdiction, did not cure that jurisdictional defect.

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Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Damages – Attorneys – Legal Malpractice Claim – Real Property – Title Insurance

Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. v. Bernstein According to the plaintiff-title insurer, the defendant-attorney negligently failed to have a prior $200,000 mortgage cancelled or released as part of a real estate closing; later, the bank foreclosed, and the title insurer had to pay $200,000 to satisfy the prior mortgage. Although the foreclosing bank still has the mortgaged properties and could sell them, the attorney has failed to show that the title insurer has not incurred enough damages to allow this court to exercise diversity jurisdiction.

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Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Diversity – S.C. Corporations – Merger

Mendenall v. Walterboro Veneer, Inc. </emAt the time plaintiff filed her complaint (and even at the time her cause of action arose), the S.C. corporations that plaintiff named as defendants had already merged into the surviving out-of-state corporation. The S.C. defendants no longer exist; therefore, there is no possibility that plaintiff could establish a cause of action against them. Complete diversity exists between the parties. Plaintiff’s motion to remand to state court is denied.

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Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Federal Question – HIPAA – Unfair Trade Practices — Remand

McKnight v. Surgical Associates of Myrtle Beach LLC Even though, as an element of her state-law unfair trade practices claim, plaintiff alleges that defendants violated a federal law - the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) - this allegation alone is insufficient to give this court federal question jurisdiction over plaintiff’s claim. Plaintiff’s motion to remand to state court is granted.

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