Plaintiff Must Support Contested Jurisdictional Amount With More Than Mere Allegations Of Injury
MCMILLIAN V. SHERATON CHICAGO HOTEL & TOWERS (May 29, 2009)
Several guests at the Chicago Sheraton Hotel were injured while on escalators in September 2003. The injuries they suffered included a separated shoulder, a scalp laceration, a leg laceration, a sprained knee and a torn ligament. They brought a personal injury suit against the hotel owners. During discovery, they learned of two other escalator malfunction incidents at the hotel in the days before their incidents. Each of the other incidents, however, took place on different escalators. The district court excluded all evidence of accidents on escalators other than the ones on which the plaintiffs were injured. Because of the exclusion of the evidence of other injuries, the plaintiffs consented to a dismissal of the case with prejudice, expressly reserving the right to appeal the judge's order excluding evidence. The court entered final judgment. Plaintiffs appeal.
In their opinion, Chief Judge Easterbrook and Judges Ripple and Tinder vacated and remanded. Before it addressed the issue of the exclusion of the evidence, the Court considered three jurisdictional issues: the existence of a final judgment, the affect of the consensual disposition, and the satisfaction of the jurisdictional amount. The Court satisfied itself that the order of the district court was final, notwithstanding the absence of the term "with prejudice." It also satisfied itself that the plaintiffs’ consent to the entry of the judgment was not a waiver of a right to appeal, given their clear reservation of that right. The plaintiffs were not as successful, however, with respect to the Court's consideration of the jurisdictional amount. The Court stated that each plaintiff must present competent evidence that his or her claim meets the $75,000 jurisdictional threshold. Here, each of the four plaintiffs alleges medical expenses between zero and $10,000. Although each also alleges future medical expenses and pain and suffering, none of them submitted any competent evidence of the value of his or her claim. The Court vacated and remanded with instructions to dismiss for want of jurisdiction.
