The plaintiffs, Nolan and Susan Legeaux, brought a motion to remand their asbestos case from federal court arguing that removing defendants failed to follow the correct removal procedure, that there are non-diverse defendants, and that the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442, is not applicable to the facts of the case. The motion was opposed by defendants Puget Sound Commerce Center, Inc., Vigor Industrial LLC, and Vigor Shipyards, Inc.
The plaintiffs’ motion was denied. The court found there was nothing procedurally improper about the removal since all properly joined and served defendants consented to the removal. The court also found there to be complete diversity in that one defendant’s bankruptcy was filed prior to the state court action (if the bankruptcy had been filed while the case was pending in state court removal would have been improper) and the plaintiffs’ motion to add another non-diverse defendant was denied. Based on the court’s findings that diversity jurisdiction existed and that the removal was procedurally proper, it did not reach the question of whether removal was appropriate under the federal officer removal statute.