Rodríguez v. Señor Frog’s de La Isla, Inc.

Rodríguez (plaintiff) was seriously injured in Puerto Rico when an intoxicated, speeding driver in a vehicle registered to Señor Frog's (defendant) crashed into her car. Nine months later she moved to California, and three months after that she sued in Puerto Rico's federal court based on diversity jurisdiction. By the time she filed, she had moved her belongings to California and obtained a California bank account, driver's license, phone number, and job; she later had a child there and enrolled in a local college, though she also later attended a Puerto Rico university during breaks while stating her intent to stay in California. Señor Frog's challenged her claimed California citizenship, noting she hadn't voted or attended church there and had once said she'd lived her whole life in Puerto Rico shortly after the accident. The district court found diversity existed, and the jury awarded Rodríguez $450,000. Señor Frog's appealed.