noting that § 1441(b)(2) “precludes removal on the basis of in-state citizenship only when the defendant has been properly joined and served”
How later courts described this case
- noting that § 1441(b)(2) “precludes removal on the basis of in-state citizenship only when the defendant has been properly joined and served”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
GERARD STEFANELLI,
Plaintiff,
Civil Action No. 21-16703 (MAS) (TJB)
Vv.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
CLINTON TOWNSHIP BOARD OF
EDUCATION al.,
Defendants.
SHIPP, District Judge
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff Gerard Stefanelli’s (“Stefanelli’”) Motion
to Remand this case back to the Superior Court of New Jersey, Hunterdon County, Civil Division.
(ECF No. 5.) Defendants John Sirotnak (“Sirotnak”), the Clinton Township Board of Education
(the “Board”), and Round Valley School (the “School,” and collectively “Defendants’’) do not
oppose Stefanelli’s Motion.’ Having considered Stefanelli’s submission, the Court decides this
matter without oral argument under Local Civil Rule 78.1. For the reasons below, the Court
remands this action.
1. BACKGROUND
Only the procedural facts are relevant for disposition of this matter. This case arrived to
this Court by way of Defendants’ removal, which invoked the Court’s diversity jurisdiction under
' Sirotnak, however, raised arguments regarding the propriety of removal in his Motion to Dismiss
Brief. (See ECF No. 2-3.)
28 U.S.C, § 1332. (ECF No. 1.) Stefanelli is a Pennsylvania resident; Defendants are New Jersey
citizens. (Compl. 4 1, 4-5, 8, ECF No. 5-3.) Stefanelli served Sirotnak on August 11, 2021, and
served the Board and the School the next day. (PI.’s Mot. Ex. B, Sirotnak Aff. of Service, ECF
No. 5-4; PI.’s Mot. Ex. C, Board & School Affs. of Service, ECF No. 5-5.) Defendants timely filed
their notice of removal on September 9, 2021. (ECF No. 1.)
II. DISCUSSION
A straightforward application of the forum-defendant rule resolves this case. Under that
rule, “[a] civil action otherwise removable solely on the basis of [diversity jurisdiction] may not
be removed if any of the parties in interest properly joined and served as defendants is a citizen of
the State in which such action is brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b)(2). Defendants’ removal is
improper under this rule. Defendants are New Jersey citizens that need not fear the “likelihood of
local bias” because that bias is “too remote to warrant removal.” Fields v. Organon USA Inc., No.
07-2922, 2007 WL 4365312, at *3 (D.N.J. Dec. 12, 2007) (citing Dresser Indus., Inc. v.
Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, 106 F.3d 494, 499 (3d Cir. 1997)). Nor does snap removal
save Defendants because Stefanelli properly served them before they removed. See Encompass
Ins. Co. v. Stone Mansion Rest. Inc., 902 F.3d 147, 152 (3d Cir. 2018) (noting that § 1441(b)(2)
“precludes removal on the basis of in-state citizenship only when the defendant has been properly
joined and served”).
I. CONCLUSION
The Court grants Stefanelli’s Motion to Remand and remands this case to the Superior
Court of New Jersey, Hunterdon County, Civil Division. The Court will issue an order consistent
with this Memorandum Opinion.
MAD A. SHIPP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE