Ballard's Service Center Inc. v. Transue

The plaintiff-appellant, Ballard's Service Center, Inc., brought an action in the Rhode Island Superior Court against William Transue alleging failure to pay rent on a gas station and breach of contract as to the sale of petroleum products. The defendant answered and counterclaimed, alleging that the lease was unenforceable under Rhode Island antitrust law. The plaintiff then sought to remove the case to the federal district court, alleging that the defendant, in his counterclaim, was actually raising a federal antitrust claim. The plaintiff then filed a motion in federal court to dismiss the counterclaim for failure to state a claim. The defendant sought to remand to the state court. The district court determined there was neither diversity nor federal question jurisdiction and that removal was frivolous. The court ordered the matter remanded to the state court with ""all resulting costs to be borne by the plaintiff."" The plaintiff moved to reconsider the order of remand and objected to the defendant's bill of costs which included $2,507.50 in attorney's fees. (The plaintiff did not, and does not now, object to the remaining $68.09 in costs.) The district court rejected what it characterized as the plaintiff's attempt to bootstrap the case into federal court by usurping the defendant's right to determine what claim he would raise against the plaintiff and, in effect, seeking to amend the defendant's counterclaim so as to allege a federal claim. The district court stated: