John Entwistle v. Walmart Inc.

I. Background

On April 12, 2019, Plaintiff filed this case in Los Angeles Superior Court, asserting claims against Defendant for negligence and premises liability. See Complaint, Dkt. # 1-1 (“Compl.”). Plaintiff attached a statement of damages to the complaint, which stated that Plaintiff sought more than $5 million in general damages and almost $70,000 in special damages. See First Statement of Damages, Dkt. # 8-3 (“First SOD”); Proof of Service, Dkt. # 8- 2, at 1. On May 14, 2019, Defendant was served with the summons, complaint, the statement of damages, and other documents. See Notice of Removal, Dkt. # 1 (“NOR”), ¶¶ 2; Proof of Service at 1. Defendant filed an answer and produced initial discovery shortly after. See Opp. 2:23–24. In June 2019, Defendant served a request for a statement of damages and a set of special interrogatories requesting information on Plaintiff’s citizenship. See id. 2:25–28. On August 14, 2019, Plaintiff provided Defendant with his set of special interrogatory responses “wherein he admitted that he is a citizen of California.” Opp. 3:1; Defendant’s Special Interrogatories, Dkt. # 8-7, No. 21; Plaintiff’s Responses to Defendant’s Special…