Betty Bernstein v. Robert Levenson

The plaintiffs in a stockholders’ derivative action appeal from an order dismissing their complaint on the ground that they had failed to establish that the amount in controversy exceeded $10,000, as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The suit sought recovery of $545,955 on behalf of the corporation, but admittedly the plaintiffs’ pro rata share of these damages, measured by their stockhold-ings, was jointly only $8,145.30. The district court, relying principally on Snyder v. Harris, 394 U.S. 332, 89 S.Ct. 1053, 22 L.Ed.2d 319 (1969), held the plaintiffs’ portion of the damages could not be…