Afolabi v. Werner Enterprises, Inc.
- Gregory Woods
- 1:20-cv-03042
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Afolabi v. Werner Enterprises, Judge Woods transferred the improperly removed case to the Eastern District of New York because Queens County belongs there.
The plaintiff and defendants are affected because the case was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York; the opinion does not decide the underlying claims.
What happened
Afolabi v. Werner Enterprises, Inc. involved a case that defendants removed from New York state court to the Southern District of New York. The action had been filed in Queens County.
The court explained that federal law requires a removed case to be filed in the federal district covering the place where the state case was pending. Because Queens County is in the Eastern District of New York, the court transferred the case there instead of deciding the parties’ underlying dispute.
Judge Gregory H. Woods ordered the Clerk to transfer the case to the Eastern District of New York, waived the usual seven-day waiting period, and directed the Clerk to close the case in the Southern District of New York.
The detailed version
- Afolabi v. Werner Enterprises, Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-03042
- Gregory Woods
- Apr. 29, 2020
Background
Defendants removed the case from the Supreme Court of the State of New York to the Southern District of New York on April 15, 2020. The court later ordered the parties to explain why the case should not be transferred to the Eastern District of New York. Neither side responded.
Venue Analysis
Federal removal law requires a removed state-court case to be filed in the federal district covering the place where the state case was pending. The plaintiff had started this action in Queens County. The opinion states that Queens County is part of the Eastern District of New York. Therefore, the Southern District of New York was not the proper federal venue for removal.
Disposition
The court transferred the case to the Eastern District of New York under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), which allows a court with an improper venue to transfer a case when doing so serves the interests of justice. The court stated that transfer would avoid unnecessary delay and expense. It directed the Clerk to transfer the case immediately, waived the seven-day waiting period under the local rule, and directed the Clerk to close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.