Gutierrez

I. BACKGROUND

25 Plaintiff filed suit against his former employer, Eli Lilly & Company (“Lilly”), 26 and former co-employee, Jayd Hanna (“Hanna”), in the California Superior Court 27 for claims related to his termination from Lilly. (ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”).) Plaintiff 28 alleges numerous violations of employment discrimination laws and one count of defamation against Lilly. The only claim against Hanna is for defamation. (Id. at ¶ 16–25.) Plaintiff argues that Hanna defamed him by maliciously making statements that he sexually harassed coworkers, (Id. at ¶¶ 12–13, 23), which led to his termination from Lilly, (ECF No. 14 (“Pl.’s Reply”), 3:3–10). Lilly removed the case on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. (ECF No. 1 (“Def.’s Notice of Removal”).) Hanna later consented to and joined in the removal. (ECF No. 11 (“Hanna’s Notice of Joinder”).) The Court finds that Plaintiff is a citizen of California. Hanna is a citizen of California. (ECF No. 21 (“Hanna Declaration”), ¶ 3.) Lilly is a citizen of Indiana. (Def.’s Notice of Removal, ¶¶ 7– 11.) Lilly argues that Hanna was fraudulently joined and that her citizenship…