Allen v. Federal Deposit Insurance

This appeal involves the straightforward construction of a statute that gives the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) the right to remove actions from state court to federal court:

12 U.S.C. § 1819 (b)(2)(B). The statute and its timeline are triggered by the filing of a suit against the FDIC or when the FDIC is substituted as a party. Here, in the underlying case in state court, the FDIC had neither been sued nor was it a party. Rather, it jumped the gun to remove the suit to federal court while the state court was considering its motion to intervene for the limited purpose of protecting bank documents in a discovery dispute. We affirm the district court’s order remanding the case to state court.

Background

The underlying action was brought in California state court by Tracy Allen, who sued OneUnited Bank (“the Bank”), a federally-insured, FDIC-supervised bank, for wrongful termination stemming from her complaints about the Bank’s lending practices. In discovery, Allen requested documents relating to lending practices, including annual FDIC exams/audits. The Bank objected on the basis that the information was confidential under FDIC rules and regulations.…