Jacqueline Schneider v. Amplifon Hearing Health Care, Corp.

JS-

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JACQUELINE SCHNEIDER, 2:24-cv-5663-DSF-AJR Plaintiff, Order REMANDING Case v.

AMPLIFON HEARING HEALTH

CARE, CORP., et al., Defendants.

Defendants have removed this case from state court based on diversity jurisdiction. Defendants acknowledge that Defendant Camille Meine is not diverse from Plaintiff but argue that Meine is a sham defendant whose citizenship should be disregarded for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction. A defendant who is a resident of the forum state is fraudulently joined “‘if the plaintiff fails to state a cause of action against [the] resident defendant, and the failure is obvious according to the settled rules of the state.’” Morris v. Princess Cruises, Inc., 236 F.3d 1061, 1067 (9th Cir. 2001) (quoting McCabe v. Gen. Foods Corp., 811 F.2d 1336, 1339 (9th Cir. 1987)). “[T]he test for fraudulent joinder and for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) are not equivalent.” Grancare, LLC v. Thrower, 889 F.3d 543, 549 (9th Cir. 2018). In evaluating a claim of fraudulent joinder, “a federal court must find that a defendant was properly joined and remand the case to state court…