Herklotz v. Parkinson

In 2000, WRS filed suit against Plaza Entertainment and its directors. Plaza cross-claimed, and the district court eventually granted summary judgment for WRS. The district court then granted Defendant Herklotz's motion to sever his state law cross claim and transferred it to the California district court, where it was later dismissed under Federal Civil Rule 12(b)(6). The court explained that a severed action must have an independent jurisdictional basis. Where, as in this case, the claims were stripped of their jurisdictional predicate through severance, they lose their federal hook and must stand on their own. Therefore, the court concluded that the Pennsylvania court lacked jurisdiction to enter the transfer order, and the California court lacked jurisdiction to take the case. The court reasoned that the appropriate course of action would have been either to deny the motion to sever and retain jurisdiction over the supplemental state law claims, or to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1367(c)(3) and dismiss the crossclaim, thus permitting Herklotz to seek relief in state court. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded. View "Herklotz v. Parkinson" on Justia Law