Thompson v. Optum United Health Care

Background

Tiffany Sherell Thompson filed this action without a lawyer. She asserted claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Because she alleged discrimination based on an actual or perceived disability, the court understood the complaint to also assert claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She sued Optum United Health Care; Optum/United Health Group; and United Health Care Corporate Headquarters.

Thompson alleged that the location where she sought employment or was employed by the defendants was in Minnesota. She also alleged that all three defendants were located in Minnesota. The opinion notes that Thompson had not paid the filing fees or submitted a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying those fees.

Venue Analysis

Venue is the federal district where a lawsuit may properly be filed. For the Title VII and Americans with Disabilities Act claims, the court applied a statute allowing suit in a district where the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred, where relevant employment records are maintained, where the person would have worked absent the discrimination, or, in some circumstances, where the defendant has its principal office. The court concluded that the District of Minnesota was a proper venue for those claims. Thompson did not allege that any of those relevant locations were in the Southern District of New York.

The court applied the general federal venue statute to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act claims. It concluded that the defendants appeared to reside in Minnesota and that Thompson did not allege that they resided in New York. The court also found that Thompson appeared to allege that a substantial part of the relevant events occurred in Minnesota, not in the Southern District of New York. The court therefore determined that New York was not a proper venue for any of the claims.

Ruling

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), when a case is filed in the wrong venue, a court may dismiss it or, in the interest of justice, transfer it to a district where it could have been filed. The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota because that court was a proper venue for all of Thompson’s claims.

The court directed the Clerk to transfer the action and stated that the transfer closed the case in the Southern District of New York. It did not decide the merits of Thompson’s discrimination claims. The Minnesota court will decide whether Thompson may proceed without prepaying fees. Summonses were not to issue from the New York court. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.