Thomson v. Gaskill, 315 U.S. 442 (1942)
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Thomson v. Gaskill
No. 139
Argued January 7, 8, 1942
Decided March 2, 1942
315 U.S. 442
CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
1. The policy of Jud.Code § 24(1), conferring jurisdiction by diversity of citizenship, calls for strict construction of the statute. If a plaintiff’s allegations of jurisdictional facts are challenged by the defendant, the plaintiff must support them by competent proof, or the bill must be dismissed. P. 446.
2. Owing to the absence from the record of agreements upon which this suit was founded, it cannot be determined whether the nature of the plaintiffs’ claims is such that they may be aggregated in determining the jurisdictional amount. P. 446.
3. In computing jurisdictional amounts, claims of plaintiffs cannot be aggregated merely because they are derived from a single instrument, or because the plaintiffs have a community of interests. P. 447.
4. The value of the "matter in controversy" in a suit based on diversity of citizenship is measured not by the monetary result of determining the principle involved, but by its pecuniary consequence to those involved in the litigation. P. 447.
119 F.2d 105 reversed.
Certiorari 314 U.S. 590, to review a decree reversing a decree of the District Court which dismissed for want of jurisdiction a suit by numerous conductors and brakemen against the above-named Railway Company, its trustee in reorganization proceedings, and others. The plaintiffs claimed seniority rights to work on certain railroad runs, arising under agreements between the railway and two railway brotherhoods. The bill sought an accounting to show the loss to each plaintiff from failure to observe these rights, and damages for each accordingly, in the order of his seniority, and prayed for future enforcement of the agreements.