Werner v. The City of New York

Background

Bradley A. Werner, Jr., proceeding without a lawyer, sued the City of New York. He alleged that, while incarcerated at Marcy Correctional Facility, another incarcerated person punched him several times and staff of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision failed to protect him from other incarcerated people. He also alleged that a correction officer responded aggressively when he reported that a bathroom at Marcy was being used as a “fight club.” Although Werner named people involved in the complaint, he did not list those people as defendants in the caption.

The complaint also included claims concerning Werner’s detention on Rikers Island. The court said those claims appeared to duplicate claims Werner was already litigating in an earlier related proceeding, No. 24-CV-4186 (S.D.N.Y.), involving alleged assaults and failures by New York City Department of Correction staff to protect him.

Venue and Transfer Analysis

Venue is the proper federal district for a case. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391, venue may be proper where a defendant resides or where a substantial part of the events occurred. The court explained that Marcy Correctional Facility is in Oneida County, which is in the Northern District of New York. Venue for claims arising at Marcy was therefore proper in that district because the relevant events occurred there.

The court noted that venue for some claims could also be proper in the Southern District because the City of New York resides there. But under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), a court may transfer a case for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. The court considered the location of the events, the likely location of witnesses and documents, Werner’s ongoing safety concerns at Marcy, and the possibility that the City-related claims had already been or could be raised in the earlier related proceeding.

Ruling

The court ordered the action transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. The order did not decide the merits of Werner’s claims. The Clerk was directed to transfer the action, and the Southern District case was closed. Whether Werner could proceed without prepaying filing fees was left for the transferee court to decide, and no summons would issue from the Southern District.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the transfer order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.