United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals; Docket No. 80-1574;Published
Opinion by J. Livley; Unanimous
Official Federal Reporter Citation: 669 F 2d 421; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Federal Jurisdiction and Removal of PIP Claims
CASE SUMMARY:
In this written Opinion by Judge Lively, the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the "direct action" diversity statute [28 USC § 1332(c)] applies to lawsuits for no-fault first party benefits under the Michigan No-Fault Act This statute provides that "in any direct action" against a liability insurer, the insurer is deemed to be a citizen of the same state as the insured for diversity of jurisdiction purposes. Thus, by applying the statute to this case, there was no diversity between plaintiff and defendant and federal jurisdiction was not proper. The Court held, "Unless the proviso is held to apply, the same 'back door diversity' that Congress eliminated by the 1964 amendment would be possible under no-fault."