Morris v. Penske Truck Leasing Co. L.P.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-03529
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Morris v. Penske, Judge Swain transferred the sex-discrimination case from New York to Connecticut.
Pamela Morris’s Title VII case against Penske Truck Leasing Co. L.P. was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the District of Connecticut; the New York court did not decide the discrimination claim.
What happened
Pamela Morris sued Penske Truck Leasing Co. L.P. under Title VII, alleging that Penske discriminated against her because of her sex. Morris represented herself and said she had worked as a truck driver for Penske.
The court found that Connecticut appeared to be the proper and more convenient venue because Morris identified a Penske address in Stamford, filed her discrimination charge in Connecticut, and indicated that she worked there. The court transferred the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and closed the case in the Southern District of New York. It did not decide whether discrimination occurred.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the transfer. She also directed that no summons issue from the New York court and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees because the court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Morris v. Penske Truck Leasing Co. L.P. · No. 1:25-cv-03529
- Laura Swain
- June 3, 2025
Background
Pamela Morris, representing herself, sued Penske Truck Leasing Co. L.P. under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She alleged that Penske discriminated against her because of her sex. Morris alleged that she worked as a truck driver for Penske. The opinion states that she resides in White Plains, New York, identified a Penske address in Stamford, Connecticut, and attached a discrimination charge filed with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities.
Venue analysis
Title VII has a specific venue rule for employment-discrimination claims. It allows a case to be brought in a district where the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred, where relevant employment records are maintained, where the person would have worked absent the alleged discrimination, or, in some circumstances, where the employer has its principal office.
The court stated that the Southern District of New York appeared not to be the proper venue based on Morris’s submissions. It said that Morris’s employment records were likely maintained at Penske’s Stamford office, where it appeared Morris worked, and that decisions about her employment likely occurred there. The court also considered transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which permits transfer to another district where the case could have been brought when transfer would serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice.
Ruling
The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut under § 1404(a). The Clerk of Court was directed to transfer the action, no summons was to issue from the Southern District of New York, and the order closed the case in that court. The order did not decide the merits of Morris’s sex-discrimination allegation.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. As a result, Morris was denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fees for that appeal.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.