Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. v. Jackson

George Jackson filed a class action in North Carolina state court against Home Depot. Home Depot then filed a third-party complaint against Citibank, which subsequently removed the entire case to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act. Jackson moved to remand, and the district court and the Fourth Circuit held that a third-party defendant cannot remove a case. Home Depot appealed. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve the question of whether a third-party defendant added to a state court lawsuit has the authority to remove the case to federal court under the general removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). The Court examined the text of the removal provisions and the distinction between original defendants and later-added parties.

The Supreme Court affirmed the Fourth Circuit in a 5-4 decision, holding that the general removal statute only permits removal by the original defendant named in the complaint. Third-party defendants, including Citibank, are not entitled to remove a case from state to federal court.

Whether a third-party defendant named in a state court lawsuit may remove the case to federal court under the general removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a), when the original defendant could not do so.

The ruling clarified the scope of federal removal jurisdiction, limiting corporate defendants' ability to change the forum by impleading third-party defendants. It reinforces the plaintiff's choice of a state court forum and prevents procedural gamesmanship in complex civil litigation, especially class actions.