Brown v. National Basketball Association
- Gregory Woods
- 1:19-cv-06434
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 9
In Brown v. National Basketball Association, Judge Woods dismissed Brown’s claims against the NBA and Young for pleading and venue problems.
Kimberly Bernice Brown’s claims against the National Basketball Association and Tamera Young were dismissed; the court also denied the pending motions and requests for relief as moot.
What happened
In Brown v. National Basketball Association, Kimberly Bernice Brown sued the National Basketball Association and Tamera Young, seeking more than $1 million. Brown represented herself and asked to proceed without paying filing fees. She claimed she had a business agreement involving a television program about female professional basketball players.
Brown alleged that Young stalked, harassed, and defamed her, and that the NBA stopped supporting the project after Brown complained about Young. She also alleged that the NBA failed to stop retaliation and that she suffered emotional, physical, professional, and financial harm.
Judge Gregory H. Woods dismissed Brown’s claims against the NBA because she did not provide enough facts showing what the NBA was required to do or how it was legally responsible for the alleged misconduct. He dismissed the claims against Young because New York was not a proper federal venue for them. The court also denied the pending motions and requests for relief as moot.
The detailed version
- Brown v. National Basketball Association · No. 1:19-cv-06434
- Gregory Woods
- Dec. 26, 2019
Background
Kimberly Bernice Brown sued the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Tamera Young. Brown invoked diversity jurisdiction, sought more than $1 million in damages, represented herself, and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The court had previously allowed her to file a second amended complaint after finding that her earlier complaint did not state a sufficient claim against the NBA.
Brown alleged that she had a written and verbal business relationship with the NBA concerning a television program about five professional female basketball players. She alleged that she was hired as a writer and producer and that the NBA later stopped supporting the project without explanation. She also alleged that Young stalked, harassed, and defamed her and that the NBA failed to stop retaliation connected to those events.
Claims Against the NBA
The court applied the screening requirement for complaints filed without a filing fee. Under that requirement, the court must dismiss a complaint that is frivolous, fails to state a claim for relief, or seeks relief from an immune defendant. A complaint must provide enough factual detail to make liability plausible, not merely possible.
The court dismissed Brown’s claims against the NBA for failure to state a claim. Brown did not attach the alleged agreement with the NBA or describe the parties’ obligations under it. She also did not allege facts showing how the NBA itself injured her or how the NBA was legally responsible for Young’s alleged conduct. The court therefore found that the second amended complaint had the same basic defect as the earlier complaint.
Claims Against Young and Venue
The court separately dismissed Brown’s claims against Young because they were filed in the wrong federal district. Federal venue rules generally allow a civil action where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, when no other district qualifies, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction.
Brown alleged that Young resided in Smyrna, Georgia, and that the alleged events involving Young occurred in North Carolina, Georgia, and possibly Maryland. Brown did not allege that Young resided in New York or that any events supporting the claims against Young occurred in the Southern District of New York. The court concluded that New York was not a proper venue and dismissed the claims under the federal venue statute because it was not in the interest of justice to transfer them.
Disposition
The court dismissed the action. It dismissed Brown’s claims against the NBA for failure to state a claim and dismissed her claims against Young because they were brought in the wrong venue. It denied all outstanding motions and requests for relief as moot. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Brown permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal.
Read the full 9-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.