Wally Gray and Maryland Casualty Company, a Corporation, and Northern Commercial Company, a Corporation v. Travelers Indemnity Company, a Corporation

Green-Birch, a joint venture, deposited into the registry of the district court the sum of $38,865.11, a balance owed by the depositor to Oneco, Inc., for work completed by Oneco as a subcontractor upon certain facilities at Ladd Air Force Base in Alaska. After the claims of various parties had been settled, the fund, amounting to $18,505.83, was contested on the one hand by The Travelers Indemnity Company, a Connecticut corporation, and on the other by Wally Gray, a Washington resident, Maryland Casualty Company, a Maryland corporation, and Northern Commercial Company, a Delaware corporation. Since the sum in question exceeded $500, and since two or more of the adverse claimants were of diverse citizenship, jurisdiction attached under the interpleader statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1335 . See Blair Holdings Corp. v. Bay City Bank and Trust Co., 9 Cir., 1956, 234 F.2d 513 ; 3 Moore, Federal Practice, para. 22.09 (1948), especially note 30 at page 3033 (collecting cases). Wally Gray, Maryland, and Northern appeal from a judgment in favor of Travelers.

The chronology of transactions in the case is as follows:

April 14, 1955 — -Travelers executed a bond for Oneco guaranteeing Oneco’s…