Thomas Hardwick v. Hoovestol, Inc.
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
I.
BACKGROUND
On July 28, 2020, Plaintiff Thomas Hardwick filed a Complaint in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, asserting a single representative cause of action under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), Cal. Lab. Code § 2698 et seq., against Defendant Hoovestol, Inc. Notice of Removal (“NOR”) ¶ 1-2 [Doc. # 1]. The Complaint alleges underlying wage and hour violations against Defendant, an interstate trucking company. Compl. ¶¶ 2, 18 [Doc. # 1-1]. On October 22, 2020, Defendant removed the action to this Court, asserting both federal question and diversity jurisdiction.
On November 23, 2020, Plaintiff filed the instant motion to remand (“MTR”) this action back to state court. [Doc. # 13.] The motion is fully briefed. [Doc. ## 16, 18.] For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS the MTR.
III.
LEGAL STANDARD
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 1441, an action may be removed from a state court to a federal district court if the latter would have had “original jurisdiction” over the action had it been filed in that court. Under 28 U.S.C. section 1331, district courts have original jurisdiction over any action that arises under the…