Jimenez

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ABELARDO GARCIA JIMENEZ, et al., Case No. 21-cv-04967-VC

Plaintiffs,

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO

v. REMAND

FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Re: Dkt. No. 15 Defendant.

The plaintiff’s remand motion is denied. Removal to federal court is appropriate where a court “finds, by the preponderance of the evidence, that the amount in controversy exceeds” $75,000. 28 U.S.C. § 1446(c)(2)(B). The amount in controversy “reflects the maximum” potential recovery and includes, in a case arising under California’s Song-Beverly Act, both civil penalties and attorney’s fees. Arais v. Residence Inn by Marriott, 936 F.3d 920, 922 (9th Cir. 2019) (“[W]hen a statute or contract provides for the recovery of attorneys’ fees, prospective attorneys’ fees must be included in the assessment of the amount in controversy.”); Brady v. Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc., 243 F.Supp.2d 1004, 1009 (N.D. Cal. 2002) (“[T]here is good reason to include the Song-Beverly Act’s civil penalty of up to two times the amount of actual damages in the amount in controversy.”). Ford has met its burden to show that the amount in controversy surpasses…