Chiang
Chiang v. Otis Elevator Co.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Otis Elevator Company brings this consolidated appeal and petition for writ of mandamus challenging a sua sponte remand by the district court for the Central District of California. The case involves claims for breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in connection with Albert K. Chiang’s employment with Otis Elevator. In March 2002, Otis Elevator removed this case to federal court on diversity grounds. The district court sua sponte remanded the case to state court, after finding that the notice of removal was defective. Specifically, the district court found that, although Otis Elevator had attached copies of the Amended Complaint and Amended Answer to the Notice of Removal, it had failed to attach the original Complaint and Answer, as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1446 (a).
At the time of the remand, this Circuit had not yet decided whether a district court had the authority to make a sua sponte remand based on a non-jurisdietional procedural defect. In our recent decision, Kelton Arms Condominium Owners Association, Inc. v. Homestead Insurance Co., 346 F.3d 1190, 1192-93 (9th Cir.2003), however, we held that a district court lacks…