chuck johnson v. gawker: notice of removal

2096823.3

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

(Eastern Division)

:

CHARLES C. JOHNSON and

GOT NEWS, LLC

:

:

Case No. _____________________

Plaintiffs, :

v. :

:

GAWKER MEDIA, LLC, J.K. TROTTER,

and GREG HOWARD

:

:

:

Defendants. :

:

:

NOTICE OF REMOVAL

Defendants Gawker Media, LLC, Joseph Keenan Trotter, and Gregory Howard (together,

Defendants), by and through their undersigned counsel, remove the above-captioned case from

the 21st Judicial Circuit Court, St. Louis County, Missouri, in which it is now pending, to the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (Eastern Division) pursuant to 28

U.S.C. 1332, 1441, and 1446, and in support hereof, aver and state as follows:

BACKGROUND

1. On June 19, 2015, Plaintiffs Charles C. Johnson and Got News, LLC (together,

Plaintiffs) commenced this action in the 21st Judicial Circuit Court, St. Louis County,

Missouri by filing a Petition naming Gawker Media, LLC, Joseph Keenan Trotter, and Gregory

Howard as defendants (hereinafter, the Petition). See Petition (Exhibit A hereto); Declaration

of Joseph E. Martineau (Exhibit B hereto).

2. On June 24, 2015, Plaintiffs served Gawker Media, LLC with a copy of the

Summons and Petition.

Case: 4:15-cv-01137-CAS Doc. #: 1 Filed: 07/23/15 Page: 1 of 6 PageID #: 1

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3. On July 20, 2015, Plaintiffs served Mr. Trotter and Mr. Howard with a copy of

the Summons and Petition.

4. Defendants have not filed an appearance, answer or other pleading in the 21st

Judicial Circuit Court, St. Louis County, Missouri and no hearings have occurred in that Court.

5. This Notice is timely pursuant 28 U.S.C. 1446, it being filed within thirty days

of service on each of the Defendants.

6. Copies of all process, pleadings and orders which have been received by

Defendants or obtained from the Missouri CaseNet system are filed herewith. See Exhibit A

hereto.

THE COMPLAINT

7. The Petition alleges five counts arising out of three separate news articles

published to Gawker Media, LLC websites, including: Defamation and Injurious Falsehood (as

against Defendants Gawker Media, LLC and Trotter), id. 62-76 (Counts I, II); Defamation

and Injurious Falsehood (as against Defendants Gawker Media, LLC and Howard), id. 77-91

(Counts III, IV); and False Light (as against all Defendants), id. 92-98 (Count V).

8. As to Counts I and II, Plaintiffs each allege compensatory damages of amounts

that exceed $2,000,000 each and punitive damages of $20,000,000. Id. 73-75.

9. Plaintiffs allege similar damages with respect to the remaining counts. Id. 89-

91, 96-98.

GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL

10. There is complete diversity between the parties, because Plaintiffs are all citizens

and domiciliaries of the State of California and Defendants are citizens and domiciliaries of the

States of New York, Delaware, or the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands.


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11. Specifically, Plaintiff Johnson is a citizen and domiciliary of California. See

Martineau Declaration (Exhibit B hereto) 3; Exhibit 1 attached thereto (Petition of Plaintiff

Charles C. Johnson, Johnson v. Fox, et al., No. 14SL-CC02844 (St. Louis Cnty Aug. 21, 2014)),

1 (At all times relevant hereto, Plaintiff Charles C. Johnson (Plaintiff or Johnson) has been

a resident of , County of Fresno, in the Sovereign State of California.)); and Exhibit 2

attached thereto (Business Entity Detail for Got News, LLC, Entity No. 201415010192 (noting

that the Got News, LLCs agent is Charles C. Johnson and his address is ,

CA )).

12. Plaintiff Got News, LLC is a limited liability company organized under the laws

of the State of California. See Martineau Declaration (Exhibit B hereto) and Exhibit 1 attached

thereto (Business Entity Detail for Got News, LLC, Entity No. 201415010192 (noting that Got

News, LLC is organized under the laws of California).

13. Mr. Johnson, a citizen of the State of California, is the only member of Got News,

LLC. Prior to filing this Notice of Removal, Defendants counsel confirmed that fact with

Plaintiffs counsel in a telephone conversation. See Martineau Declaration (Exhibit B hereto)

3.

14. Consequently, Plaintiffs Johnson and Got News, LLC are both citizens of the

State of California.

15. Defendant Gawker Media, LLC is a limited liability company organized under the

laws of Delaware with its principal place of business in the State of New York. See Petition 2;

Declaration of Courtenay OConnor (Exhibit C hereto) 2.


[Redacted]

4

16. Defendant Gawker Media, LLCs sole member is Gawker Media Group, Inc., a

holding company organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands and having its principal place

of business in the Cayman Islands. See OConnor Declaration (Exhibit C hereto) 3.

17. Consequently, Defendant Gawker Media, LLC is a citizen of the State of New

York or the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands.

18. Defendant Joseph Keenan Trotter is a citizen and domiciliary of the State of New

York. See Petition 3.

19. Defendant Gregory Howard is a citizen and domiciliary of the State of New York.

See id. 4.

20. Because all Plaintiffs are citizens and domiciliaries of the State of California and

because all Defendants are citizens and domiciliaries of the States of New York, Delaware, or

the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands, complete diversity of citizenship exits

between the parties.

21. Additionally, the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. See id. 73-75, 89-

91, 96-98.

22. Thus, removal of this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1441(a) is appropriate because

this Court has original jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. 1332.

23. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1446(d), Defendants are providing written notice of this

Notice of Removal to all adverse parties and a copy of this Notice of Removal is being filed with

the Clerk of the 21st Judicial Circuit Court, St. Louis County, Missouri.

24. Pursuant to E.D. Mo. L.R. 2.02, Defendants file, concurrently with this Notice of

Removal, a completed Civil Cover Sheet and an Original Filing Form in the form provided by

and available from the Clerk of this Court. In addition, Defendant Gawker files concurrently


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herewith its Disclosure of Organizational Interests Certificate in the form provided by and

available from the Clerk of Court.

25. In filing this Notice of Removal and appearing herein, Defendants do not waive

and do not intend to waive any defense available to them in law or in equity, including but not

limited to defenses based on lack of personal jurisdiction or failure to state a claim upon which

relief may be granted.

WHEREFORE, notice is given that this action is removed from the 21st Judicial Circuit

Court, St. Louis County, Missouri to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of

Missouri.

Dated: July 23, 2015

Respectfully submitted,

LEWIS RICE LLC

By: /s/ Joseph E. Martineau

Joseph E. Martineau, #32397MO

R. Taylor Matthews, #60936MO

600 Washington, Suite 2500

St. Louis, Missouri 63101

[email protected]

314/444-7729

314/612-7729 (facsimile)

Nathan Siegel*

LEVINE SULLIVAN KOCH & SCHULZ, LLP

1899 L St., NW, Suite 200

Washington, DC 20036

Tel: (202) 508-1100

Fax: (202) 861-9888

[email protected]

*pro hac vice application submitted concurrently

or to be submitted

Attorneys for Defendants


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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned certifies that on this 23rd

day of July, 2015, a true copy hereof, together

with all exhibits and attachments, was served by U.S. Mail and e-mail on the following:

Jonathon Christian Burns

THE BURNS LAW FIRM, LLC

1717 Park Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63104

[email protected]

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

By: /s/ Joseph E. Martineau


chuck johnson v. gawker: notice of removal

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