Zambelli Fireworks Mfg. Co., Inc. v. Wood

Zambelli Fireworks (plaintiff), a Pennsylvania corporation, sued former employee Matthew Wood (a Florida citizen) and his new employer, Pyrotecnico (defendant), to enforce a non-compete covenant. Zambelli invoked diversity jurisdiction, alleging Pyrotecnico was a Nevada citizen because it was a Nevada-registered LLC. But Pyrotecnico's only member was a Louisiana LLC, whose managing member, Stephen Vitale, actually lived and worked at Pyrotecnico's headquarters in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The Third Circuit, on its own initiative, questioned whether the parties were truly diverse and asked for supplemental briefing on jurisdiction.

Whether, for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, the citizenship of a limited liability company is determined by the citizenship of each of its members rather than by its state of formation.