SSAA Ventures Operations Corporation v. Markel Insurance Company, 4:17-cv-00713

SSAA Ventures purchased an insurance policy from Markel covering property in Richardson, Texas; after an alleged hailstorm, SSAA submitted a claim.
Markel assigned the claim to Vericlaim, which assigned an individual adjuster, Christopher James Jagger.
SSAA sued Markel, Vericlaim, and Jagger in Collin County state court alleging improper evaluation and processing of the claim under Texas law.
Markel removed the action to federal court asserting complete diversity (contending Jagger was improperly joined) and that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000.
SSAA moved to remand, arguing Jagger was properly joined and his Texas citizenship destroys federal diversity jurisdiction.
The district court analyzed whether Jagger was fraudulently/improperly joined under federal pleading standards and Rule 12(b)(6)-type review.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Jagger was improperly joined such that his citizenship should be disregarded for diversity jurisdiction	Jagger was properly joined; SSAA alleges adjuster-level misconduct supporting claims under Texas law	Markel contends SSAA pleaded only vague, conclusory allegations against Jagger and thus cannot plausibly recover against him	Jagger was improperly joined and must be dismissed; remand denied

Manguno v. Prudential Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 276 F.3d 720 (5th Cir. 2002) (removing party bears burden to show federal jurisdiction)
Gasch v. Hartford Accident & Indem. Co., 491 F.3d 278 (5th Cir. 2007) (removal statute strictly construed; doubts resolved in favor of remand)
Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L.P., 541 U.S. 567 (U.S. 2004) (court must remand if it lacks subject matter jurisdiction)
Smallwood v. Illinois Central R.R. Co., 385 F.3d 568 (5th Cir. 2004) (improper joinder analysis and disregarding non-diverse defendants)
Green v. Amerada Hess Corp., 707 F.2d 201 (5th Cir. 1983) (heavy burden on removing party to show improper joinder)
Great Plains Trust Co. v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., 313 F.3d 305 (5th Cir. 2002) (must show no reasonable basis for recovery against non-diverse defendant)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (U.S. 2007) (plausibility pleading standard)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (U.S. 2009) (plausibility requires factual content allowing reasonable inference of liability)
Cavallini v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 44 F.3d 256 (5th Cir. 1995) (improper joinder assessed from pleading as of removal)
Guillory v. PPG Industries, Inc., 434 F.3d 303 (5th Cir. 2005) (surviving a Rule 12(b)(6)-type review generally defeats improper joinder)