Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association Insurance Co. v. Fidelitone, Inc.
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
2024 WL 1461459 (2024)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
On December 14, 2023, Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association Insurance Company (PMAIC) (plaintiff) sued its policyholder Fidelitone, Inc. (defendant) in Cook County, Illinois, circuit court. PMAIC was a Pennsylvania corporation. Fidelitone was a Delaware corporation with a principal place of business in Illinois. On December 19, 2023, Fidelitone filed a notice of removal, seeking to remove the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Fidelitone had not yet been formally served with process but presumably saw the lawsuit filed on the state court’s docket page. PMAIC opposed removal. Fidelitone relied on the forum-defendant rule for removal. The rule prohibited removal to federal court even if there was diversity of parties if the lawsuit was filed in the defendant’s state, but only if the defendant was properly served and joined. Because Fidelitone filed the removal notice prior to being served, it argued that under the forum-defendant rule’s plain meaning, removal was not prohibited.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lefkow, J.)
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