No jurisdiction for federal common law claim

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted September 15, 2021 11:13 AM

After scoring a $293,183 judgment in federal court against Prather Plumbing Inc. under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, two employee benefit funds sued a newly formed entity — Prather Plumbing & Heating Inc. — in the same court for successor liability. The district judge decided he had federal-question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 because the funds invoked a federal common law doctrine that applies an expansive approach to successor liability for judgments premised on federal statutes. …

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