Michael Tipton v. Walmart Inc.

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

17 Plaintiff Michael Tipton filed this employment discrimination and retaliation 18 action in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, against Defendants 19 Walmart, Inc. and Brendan Talbott. (Notice of Removal (“NOR”), Ex. A 20 (“Complaint” or “Compl.”), ECF No. 1-1.) Tipton asserts eight causes of action 21 against Walmart related to his termination and a single cause of action for defamation 22 against his former supervisor, Talbott. (Id.) Walmart removed the action based on 23 alleged diversity jurisdiction despite Tipton’s allegation that Talbott is a resident of 24 California. (See Compl. ¶ 3.) On April 12, 2021, the Court ordered Walmart to show 25 cause for why this action should not be remanded for lack of subject matter 26 jurisdiction. (Min. Order, ECF No. 11.) On April 19, 2021, Walmart filed a 27 28 1 Response, which curiously only addresses the amount in controversy requirement. 2 (See Response, ECF No. 13.)1 3 Nevertheless, after reviewing Walmart’s Notice of Removal and Tipton’s 4 Complaint, the Court finds that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over…