Hay v. May Department Stores Co., 271 U.S. 318 (1926)

ERROR TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

Syllabus

1. A motion to remand upon the ground that the suit is not removable from the state court raises a question of the jurisdiction of the district court, reviewable under Jud.Code, § 238, where the motion was denied and the suit dismissed upon plaintiff’s failure to comply with a rule for security for costs. P. 321.

2. An action brought in a state court against two defendants jointly, in which the plaintiff states a case of joint liability arising out of the concurrent negligence of the defendants, does not present a separable controversy authorizing the removal of the cause to a federal court, even though the plaintiff might have sued the defendants separately, the allegations of the complaint being decisive as to the nature of the controversy in the absence of a showing that one of the defendants was fraudulently joined for the purpose of preventing the removal. P. 321.

Reversed.

Error to a judgment of the district court dismissing a suit for personal injuries, for failure of the plaintiff to give security for costs, after his motion to remand it to the state court where it originated had been overruled.