Larry Moore v. John Smith, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 20506

Plaintiff Larry Moore (Louisiana citizen) sued PPG Industries (Pennsylvania corp.), several Louisiana corporate/individual defendants, and fictitious parties after being injured by falling equipment at a PPG facility in Louisiana.
Defendants removed under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b) on fraudulent-joinder grounds (PPG nondiverse co-defendants alleged to be improperly joined).
District court stayed Moore’s remand motion for jurisdictional discovery; after discovery Moore moved to amend to add three PPG employees (Louisiana citizens) as defendants.
Magistrate judge recommended denying remand and denying leave to amend, concluding Moore had no reasonable possibility of recovery against the nondiverse defendants and that the proposed amendment would only defeat diversity.
District court adopted the recommendation, dismissed nondiverse defendants with prejudice, and denied Moore’s motion for leave to amend; Moore appealed only the denial of leave to amend.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether district court abused discretion in denying leave to amend to add nondiverse defendants after removal	Moore sought to add three PPG employees alleged to be responsible for premises safety; amendment necessary to pursue claims	Allowing joinder would destroy diversity and was improper because allegations are conclusory and fail to show personal fault	Court affirmed: denial not an abuse of discretion under Hensgens; amendment aimed to defeat jurisdiction
Whether Moore alleged sufficient personal-fault facts (under Louisiana Canter test) to make joinder plausible	Moore relied on employees’ roles overseeing safety to show they owed/delegated duties and breached them	Defendants argued general administrative responsibility is insufficient under Canter; Moore offered no evidence of personal fault	Court held allegations were general and failed Canter’s requirement of personal fault; general supervisory allegations insufficient

Wilson v. Bruks-Klockner, Inc., 602 F.3d 363 (5th Cir. 2010) (standard of review for denial of leave to amend)
Hensgens v. Deere & Co., 833 F.2d 1179 (5th Cir. 1987) (factors for permitting joinder of nondiverse defendants after removal)
Priester v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 708 F.3d 667 (5th Cir. 2013) (confirming Hensgens as controlling standard)
In re 1994 Exxon Chem. Fire, 558 F.3d 378 (5th Cir. 2009) (discussing Canter test application to third-party liability of employees)
Tillman v. CSX Transp., Inc., 929 F.2d 1023 (5th Cir. 1991) (distinguishing amendments made for legitimate causes from those to defeat jurisdiction)
Canter v. Koehring Co., 283 So.2d 716 (La. 1973) (establishing multi-part test for individual employee liability under Louisiana law)