Shelby Personnel Services Unlimited, Inc. v. SFI Holdings, Inc., 1:12-cv-00155

Plaintiff Shelby Personnel Services Unlimited, Inc. filed suit in the Western District of North Carolina on June 19, 2012 asserting state-law claims and alleging diversity jurisdiction.
Defendants are five LLCs: SFI Holdings, LLC; RSW Distributors, LLC; Agraglobal Foods, LLC; Willowbrook Foods I, LLC; and 212 Nuway Packing, LLC, all alleged as Ohio LLCs with ownership not disclosed.
Plaintiff asserts the LLCs are controlled by Willowbrook and that ownership lines may cross entities, but constituent members remain unidentified.
Constituent membership for Agraglobal and each defendant is not disclosed, preventing determination of citizenship of all parties.
The Court recognizes the duty to determine subject matter jurisdiction sua sponte and cites controlling authority requiring disclosure of all constituent members for diversity analysis.
The Court orders Plaintiff, within fifteen days, to disclose the names and citizenships of all constituent members and, for LLCs/partnerships, their own members to establish complete diversity as of the filing date.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court has subject-matter jurisdiction based on diversity	Plaintiff asserts complete diversity exists among diverse Ohio entities and Plaintiff.	Defendants' citizenship is not disclosed, blocking complete diversity.	Lack of disclosed membership prevents complete diversity; disclosure required.

Interstate Petroleum Corp. v. Morgan, 249 F.3d 215 (4th Cir. 2001) (court must determine subject-matter jurisdiction sua sponte when necessary)
Plyer v. Moore, 129 F.3d 728 (4th Cir. 1997) (affirms sua sponte jurisdiction inquiry)
Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L.P., 541 U.S. 567 (2004) (owner's citizenship information required for diversity)
Carden v. Arkoma Associates, 494 U.S. 185 (1990) (LLCs are citizens of all states of their constituent members)