## Facts

- CBS aired a *60 Minutes* segment about unusually large jury verdicts in rural Mississippi, focusing in part on Jefferson County and describing the area as associated with “jackpot justice.”
- The segment discussed Jefferson County jurors in general terms and did not name or otherwise identify any specific juror.
- Plaintiffs Wylanda Gales, Patricia Gamble, Daniel Glass, Dorothy McGee, Jerry Scott, Jr., and Charles Wesley served as jurors in a Jefferson County Circuit Court “Fen Phen” diet-drug case that returned a verdict of about $150 million.
- Plaintiffs alleged the broadcast maliciously portrayed Jefferson County jurors as handing out high-dollar verdicts without a lawful basis and sued for defamation, libel, and slander under Mississippi law.
- Plaintiffs filed suit in Mississippi state court against CBS; Media General Operations, Inc., d/b/a WJTV (a station that aired the segment); and several individuals associated with the broadcast and related reporting, including Mississippi citizens Wyatt Emmerich and Beau Strittman, as well as non-Mississippi individuals (including Don Hewitt and Morley Safer) and John Doe defendants.
- Defendants removed to federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, asserting diversity jurisdiction and contending that the Mississippi defendants (Emmerich and Strittman) should be ignored because they were improperly joined.
- Plaintiffs moved to remand for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and also sought to submit additional evidence relevant to jurisdiction.

## Issues

1. Whether complete diversity existed under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 when plaintiffs and two named defendants (Emmerich and Strittman) were Mississippi citizens, or whether the court could disregard those defendants’ citizenship under the fraudulent-joinder doctrine.
2. Whether the removing defendants carried their burden to show there was no reasonable possibility of recovery against the Mississippi defendants under Mississippi law, such that removal was proper.
3. Whether the case should be remanded to Mississippi state court under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

## Decision

- The court granted plaintiffs’ motion to remand.
- The court held the removing defendants did not meet their heavy burden to establish fraudulent joinder of the Mississippi defendants.
- Because plaintiffs and at least two properly joined defendants were Mississippi citizens, complete diversity was lacking and the federal court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction.
- The court’s ruling addressed only removal jurisdiction; it did not resolve the merits of plaintiffs’ defamation-related claims.
- The court considered the parties’ jurisdictional submissions (including plaintiffs’ request to submit additional evidence) as part of deciding the remand motion.

## Legal Principles

- A defendant may remove a state-court action only if the case could have been filed originally in federal court; removal statutes are strictly construed, and the removing party bears the burden to prove federal jurisdiction.
- Diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 requires complete diversity of citizenship between all plaintiffs and all properly joined defendants, and an amount in controversy exceeding the statutory threshold.
- Fraudulent joinder is a narrow exception to the complete-diversity requirement; the removing party must show either (a) actual fraud in pleading jurisdictional facts, or (b) no reasonable possibility that the plaintiff can recover against the non-diverse defendant under applicable state law.
- In assessing fraudulent joinder, the court resolves contested facts and close state-law questions in the plaintiff’s favor and may look beyond the pleadings to limited evidence without deciding the ultimate merits.
- If subject-matter jurisdiction is absent at any time, 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) requires remand to state court.

## Conclusion

Because plaintiffs and two defendants were Mississippi citizens and defendants failed to show those in-state defendants were fraudulently joined, the district court lacked diversity jurisdiction and remanded the case to Mississippi state court without reaching the merits of the defamation, libel, or slander claims.


Gales v. CBS Broadcasting, Inc., 269 F. Supp. 2d 772 (2003)