Jackson v. Open Sky Education, 4:20-cv-00470

Tierra Jackson sued Open Sky Education (d/b/a Eagle College Preparatory Schools) in Missouri state court alleging race, pregnancy discrimination and retaliation under the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA); Open Sky removed to federal court based on diversity.
Jackson filed MCHR Charges naming "Open Sky Education d/b/a Eagle College Preparatory Schools" and identified the Gravois Park school and specific supervisors; she later moved to amend her complaint to add Eagle College Prep Endeavor, Inc. (Eagle) as a defendant.
Open Sky opposed amendment as futile, arguing Jackson failed to exhaust administrative remedies as to Eagle; it also opposed remand, contending that joinder of Eagle should be denied so federal diversity jurisdiction remains.
The central factual questions included whether Open Sky and Eagle held themselves out as the same entity (parent/alter-ego or manager) and whether Eagle suffered prejudice from not being named in the MCHR Charges.
Applying Missouri law (Hill v. Ford Motor Co.) and the MHRA’s notice/conciliation purposes, the court found a plausible substantial identity of interest between Open Sky and Eagle based on employment documents and Open Sky’s responses to the Charge.
The court granted leave to amend (finding amendment not futile) and, because the amended complaint pleads a non-diverse defendant (Eagle), remanded the case to state court for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether amendment to add Eagle is futile because Jackson did not name Eagle in her MCHR Charges	Jackson argued she effectively identified Eagle (d/b/a language, school location, supervisors), Open Sky acted/responded on Eagle’s behalf, and the entities had overlapping indicia (logos, offer letter), so omission should be excused under Hill substantial-identity factors	Open Sky argued Jackson failed to exhaust administrative remedies as to Eagle, so MHRA claims against Eagle are barred and amendment would be futile	Court held there's a reasonable basis to find substantial identity of interest and lack of prejudice; amendment is not futile and leave to amend is granted
Whether the case must be remanded after Eagle is joined (destroying diversity)	Jackson argued joinder of Eagle destroys complete diversity, so remand to state court is required	Open Sky argued joinder should be denied (futility) so federal jurisdiction would remain	Court permitted joinder and remanded the case to state court for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction

Hill v. Ford Motor Co., 277 S.W.3d 659 (Mo. 2009) (articulates substantial-identity factors excusing omission from MCHR charge)
Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc., 401 U.S. 321 (1971) (district court has discretion on leave to amend)
Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178 (1962) (factors guiding leave to amend)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) (plausibility standard for Rule 12(b)(6))
Geier v. Missouri Ethics Comm’n, 715 F.3d 674 (8th Cir. 2013) (denial of leave to amend may be justified when amendment is futile)