Altman v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-10737
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Altman v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge McMahon transferred Altman’s benefits-review case to the Eastern District of New York for improper venue.
Edwin Altman’s Social Security benefits-review action was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York; the transferee court was left to decide whether he could proceed without prepaying fees.
What happened
In Altman v. Commissioner of Social Security, Edwin Altman, representing himself, sought review of a Social Security benefits decision under federal law.
The court said these cases generally must be filed where the plaintiff resides or has a principal place of business. Altman alleged that he lived in Brooklyn, which is in the Eastern District of New York, not the Southern District of New York.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the case transferred to the Eastern District of New York under the federal venue statute. She also said the transferee court would decide whether Altman could proceed without paying filing fees, and this court closed the case.
The detailed version
- Altman v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:19-cv-10737
- Colleen McMahon
- Nov. 26, 2019
Background
Edwin Altman filed this self-represented action seeking judicial review of the Commissioner of Social Security’s final administrative decision about his application for Social Security benefits. He invoked 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(g) and/or 1383(c)(3).
Venue analysis
The court explained that an action under those provisions may be brought only in the federal judicial district where the plaintiff resides or has a principal place of business, or, if neither is within a federal judicial district, in the District of Columbia. Altman alleged that he resided in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. Because Kings County is in the Eastern District of New York, and Altman did not allege a principal place of business in the Southern District of New York, the court concluded that venue was improper there.
Ruling
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the action transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). The court directed the Clerk to transfer the action, stated that the transferee court would decide whether Altman could proceed without prepaying fees, and directed that no summons issue from the Southern District of New York. The order closed the case in that court. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.