Tanzymore v. Bethlehem Steel Corp. case brief

Tanzymore v. Bethlehem Steel Corp. case brief summary
457 F.2d 1320 (3d Cir. 1972)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Appellant employee sought review of a judgment of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which dismissed his personal injury action against appellee employer for want of jurisdiction.

CASE FACTS
Appellee employer moved to dismiss appellant employee's personal injury action on the basis of appellant's deposition, which indicated that he was not a citizen of a different state than appellee. The district court dismissed the action for want of jurisdiction without holding an evidentiary hearing.

DISCUSSION

• On appeal, the court affirmed because appellant failed to establish that he was a citizen of another state. 
• It was within the district court's discretion to choose what procedure to follow in making its jurisdictional determination and it was a reasonable exercise of that discretion to decide appellee's motion based on the deposition. 
• An evidentiary hearing was not required because appellant was given notice and a fair opportunity to be heard.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the judgment that dismissed appellant employee's personal injury action because he did not establish diversity of citizenship. Appellant's deposition gave him the opportunity to be heard, thus he was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing.

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