Gonzales v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 DANIEL GONZALES, Case No. 21-cv-08570-JCS
Plaintiff,
ORDER REGARDING ASSERTION OF
v. FRAUDULENT JOINDER
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION, et al., 11 Defendants.
12 Defendant Costco Wholesale Corporation removed this action from the California Superior Court for Alameda County on November 3, 2021 asserting diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). Although another defendant, Elizabeth Brambila, shares California citizenship with Plaintiff Daniel Gonzales and has not joined in removal, Costco asserts that Brambila was not properly served, was not working at the store in question on the day of the accident giving rise to Gonzales’s claims, and is fraudulently joined as a defendant. “[F]raudulently joined defendants will not defeat removal on diversity grounds.” Ritchey v. Upjohn Drug Co., 139 F.3d 1313, 1318 (9th Cir. 1998). “The term ‘fraudulent joinder’ is a term of art, used for removal purposes, and does not connote any…