Business Law and the Regulation of Business 11th Edition by Richard Mann, Barry Roberts

Exercise 18

Mariana Deutsch worked as a knitwear mender and attended a school for beauticians. The sink in her apartment collapsed on her foot, fracturing her big toe and making it painful for her to stand. She claims that as a consequence of the injury she was compelled to abandon her plans to become a beautician because that job requires long periods of standing. She also asserts that she was unable to work at her current job for a month. She filed a tort claim against Hewes Street Realty for negligence in failing properly to maintain the sink. She brought the suit in federal district court, claiming damages of $85,000. Her medical expenses and actual loss of salary were less than $7,500; the rest of her alleged damages were for loss of future earnings as a beautician. Hewes Street moved to dismiss the suit on the basis that Deutsch's claim fell short of the jurisdictional requirement and therefore the federal court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over her claim. The district court dismissed the suit, and Deutsch appealed. Does the federal court have jurisdiction? Explain.