The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., et al., Petitioners v. Sarah Palmquist, Individually and as Next Friend of E.P., a Minor, et al.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a federal court cannot create its own power to hear a case through a mistaken ruling. The Court found that because a Texas company was wrongly dismissed from a lawsuit involving Texas plaintiffs, the "complete diversity" (where all parties are from different states) required for federal jurisdiction never actually existed.

This decision ensures that large companies cannot use a judge's error to keep a case in federal court when it belongs in state court. It protects the right of everyday people to choose where they file their lawsuits, especially when suing local businesses.

Federal courts have limited authority and can generally only hear cases between citizens of different states. This ruling reinforces that courts must follow strict limits set by Congress and cannot expand their own power just to make a case more efficient.

9-0. Majority: Sotomayor, Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Jackson.

Majority

Sotomayor

Roberts

Thomas

Alito

Kagan

Gorsuch

Kavanaugh

Barrett

Jackson

“A federal court cannot create jurisdiction over a lawsuit through its own erroneous ruling.”

A federal trial verdict must be thrown out if the court never had the legal authority to hear the case from the start.

The case will be sent back to the lower courts to be returned to state court. Justice Thomas also suggested that in the future, the Court should re-examine the rules that allow federal judges to look at the merits of a claim before deciding if they even have the power to hear it.

Complete diversity is a rule that requires every plaintiff to be from a different state than every defendant for a federal court to hear the case. Because the Palmquists and Whole Foods were both from Texas, the federal court lacked the legal power to decide the dispute.

Hain Celestial argued that the verdict should stand because it was efficient and the parties were diverse by the end of the trial. The Court ruled that efficiency does not allow a judge to manufacture jurisdiction through a mistake, as this would let courts expand their power beyond what Congress allowed.

Justice Thomas agreed with the outcome but wrote separately to question the "improper joinder" doctrine. He believes federal courts might be overstepping by evaluating the strength of claims against local defendants before they have even confirmed they have the power to hear the case.