Opinion
No. 4:13-cv-98-DPM
04-18-2013
MOORE'S JACKSONVILLE FUNERAL HOME PLAINTIFF v. CREMATORY MANUFACTURING & SERVICE, INC. DEFENDANT/COUNTER CLAIMANT AMERICAN FUNERAL SERVICE, INC. d/b/a Moore's Jacksonville Funeral Home COUNTER DEFENDANT
ORDER
The Court appreciates the parties'.supplemental briefs on jurisdiction. Moore's motion for remand, No 8, is granted. The funeral home's complaint seeks damages for breach of contract (or restitution) of $22,009.50, which is significantly less than the amount in controversy required for diversity jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). Crematory Manufacturing's counterclaim, which seeks to recover on the contract as a whole, is not properly considered in fixing the amount-in-controversy. Usery v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp., 606 F.3d 1017 (8th Cir. 2010). Eighth Circuit law is clear: the amount in controversy is "measured by the value to the plaintiff of the right sought to be enforced." Schubert v. Auto Owners Ins. Co., 649 F.3d 817, 821 (8th Cir. 2011) (quotation omitted). The value to Moore's of its right in contract or restitution is about $22,000. The case is therefore remanded to the Circuit Court of Pulaski County.
So Ordered.
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D.P. Marshall Jr.
United States District Judge