Minnesota Wrongful Death Act, Clinic Negligently Failed To Diagnose Cancer

This is a wrongful-death action brought in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Appellant Julie Steinlage (the Trustee), a Nevada resident and Trustee for the heirs and next of kin of her deceased mother Dolores
Mae Smith (Mrs. Smith), sued Appellee Mayo Clinic (the Clinic), a Minnesota resident. The Trustee alleged that because the Clinic negligently failed to diagnose Mrs. Smith’s gallbladder cancer in 1999, Mrs. Smith died prematurely in 2002.

The district court’s decision failed to distinguish between “the legal representative of the estate” of a decedent, who under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(2) is deemed to have the same citizenship as the decedent, and the Trustee for the heirs
and next of kin of a decedent, who under Minnesota wrongful-death law sues on behalf of the decedent’s heirs and next of kin and not on behalf of the decedent’s estate. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(2) does not preclude federal court diversity
jurisdiction when the plaintiff is a trustee for the heirs and next of kin of a decedent bringing a wrongful-death action and seeking to recover only what the heirs and next of kin could recover for their own damages. In this case, diversity jurisdiction exists because the Trustee, a long-time Nevada resident, is deemed under Minnesota wrongful-death law to be the real party in interest and she is not suing on behalf of her mother’s estate. Her citizenship controls for diversity purposes.

Conclusion:
Under Minnesota law, a wrongful-death action is brought on behalf of the individual heirs and next of kin for their own personal damages, not on behalf of the estate. By its plain language, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(2) imputes the citizenship of
the decedent only to the “legal representative of the estate” of that decedent. The district court failed to acknowledge the significant distinction between a wrongfuldeath trustee and a legal representative of an estate, and erroneously concluded that diversity was lacking. This decision is contrary to both the plain language of the statute and to Congress’ intent. As other federal courts have recognized, diversity jurisdiction exists in a wrongful-death lawsuit when the trustee for the decedent’s heirs and next of kin is a citizen of a different state than the defendant. Therefore, the Trustee respectfully asks this Court to reverse the district court and remand this case to trial.