Calistoga Ranch Owner LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CALISTOGA RANCH OWNER LLC, et Case No. 22-cv-03188-VC al.,

Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION

TO REMAND

v. Re: Dkt. No.

CERTAIN UNDERWRITERS AT

LLOYD'S, LONDON, et al., Defendants.

The joint motion to remand is granted. “Diversity removal requires complete diversity, meaning that each plaintiff must be of a different citizenship from each defendant.” Grancare, LLC v. Thrower by & through Mills, 889 F.3d 543, 548 (9th Cir. 2018). Premier’s California citizenship defeats diversity, but the defendants argue it should be disregarded because Premier was fraudulently joined. See Morris v. Princess Cruises, Inc., 236 F.3d 1061, 1067 (9th Cir. 2001). The removing party bears a “heavy burden” in establishing fraudulent joinder: “if there is a possibility that a state court would find that the complaint states a cause of action against any of the resident defendants, the federal court must find that the joinder was proper and remand the case to the state court.” Grancare, 889 F.3d at 548 (emphasis in original) (citations and quotations omitted). In Bock v. Hansen, the California Court of Appeal…