Wan v. DeJoy

Background

Hoi L. Wan, proceeding without a lawyer, brought an employment-discrimination action against Louis DeJoy and other defendants. The complaint invoked Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The claims arose from Wan’s employment at the United States Postal Service International Service Center at JFK airport in Queens County, New York. Wan resides in Staten Island, New York.

Venue analysis

The court explained that the Family and Medical Leave Act and § 1981 use the general federal venue rule. Under that rule, venue may be proper where a substantial part of the events occurred or, in some circumstances, where a defendant resides. Because the alleged events occurred in Queens County, venue for those claims was not proper in the Southern District under the events-based provision. The court said it was unclear whether venue could be proper there under the defendant-residence provision because Wan did not identify where any defendant was domiciled, although he provided Queens County addresses for all defendants.

Title VII has its own venue rule, and the Americans with Disabilities Act incorporates that rule. Under those provisions, venue may be proper in any federal judicial district in New York where the alleged employment practice occurred. The court therefore concluded that venue was proper in the Eastern District of New York for all of Wan’s claims and was proper in the Southern District for at least some of them.

Transfer decision

Even when venue is proper, 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) allows a court to transfer a case for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. The court considered the location of the underlying events, Wan’s employment in Queens County, the Eastern District’s apparent suitability for all claims, Wan’s residence outside the Southern District, and his prior litigation in the Eastern District concerning employment-discrimination claims against the same employer. The court also noted that a plaintiff’s choice of forum receives less weight when the plaintiff does not live there and the operative events did not occur there.

Disposition

The court ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. It closed the case in the Southern District, directed that a copy of the order be mailed to Wan, and stated that the transferee court would decide whether he could proceed without prepaying fees. A summons was not to issue from the Southern District. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not decide the merits of Wan’s employment-discrimination claims.