Case Information
*1 Case 5:25-cv-00476-TAD-MLH Document 5 Filed 04/14/25 Page 1 of 2 PageID #: 22
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
SHREVEPORT DIVISION ANDRES CANDELAS ET AL CIVIL ACTION NO. 25-cv-476 VERSUS JUDGE TERRY A. DOUGHTY TENNESSEE STEEL HAULERS, LLC, ET AL MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Defendant Tennessee Steel Haulers, LLC filed its Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement (Doc. 1-7) and alleged that it is an LLC whose “sole owner” is Daseke TSH, LLC. The “sole owner” of Daseke TSH is Daseke Companies, Inc., a corporation registered in Delaware with its principal place of business in Texas.
The citizenship of an LLC is determined by the citizenship of all of its members. Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077 (5th Cir. 2008). “A party seeking to establish diversity jurisdiction must specifically allege the citizenship of every member of every LLC or partnership involved in a litigation.” Settlement Funding, L.L.C. v. Rapid Settlements, Ltd., 851 F.3d 530, 536 (5th Cir. 2017). It appears that by alleging the “sole owners” of the LLCs, Defendant meant to allege that they are the sole members, but that is not clear. Clarification is needed because ownership and membership are not always synonymous. SXSW, L.L.C. v. Fed. Ins. Co., 83 F.4th 405, 408 (5th Cir. 2023). Defendant must file, no later than April 21, 2025 , an amended Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement that alleges its member(s) and their citizenship.
*2 Case 5:25-cv-00476-TAD-MLH Document 5 Filed 04/14/25 Page 2 of 2 PageID #: 23 With respect to Daseke Companies, Inc., a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of (1) the state in which it was incorporated and (2) the state where it has its principal place of business. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). To establish diversity jurisdiction, a complaint or notice of removal must set forth with specificity a corporate party’s state of incorporation and its principal place of business. A statement that a corporation is “registered in” a state is not sufficient because corporations can be registered to do business in multiple states. The amended Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement must specifically allege the state in which Daseke Companies, Inc. is incorporated.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 14th day of April, 2025. Page 2 of 2