Mitchell v. BJs Wholesale Club
- Katherine Failla
- 1:23-cv-00724
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Mitchell v. BJS Wholesale Club, Judge Failla transferred the improperly removed case from the Southern to the Eastern District of New York.
The parties to the case—Audrey Mitchell and BJS Wholesale Club—are affected by the transfer from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York. The opinion does not resolve the underlying claims.
What happened
Mitchell v. BJS Wholesale Club began in New York state court in Queens County. BJS Wholesale Club moved the case to the Southern District of New York, but Queens County belongs to the Eastern District of New York for this purpose.
The court found that the removal went to the wrong federal district. It explained that the case did not need to return to state court and be removed again; transferring it directly would avoid delay and expense.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla ordered the Clerk of Court to remove the case from the Southern District of New York’s docket and transfer it to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
The detailed version
- Mitchell v. BJs Wholesale Club · No. 1:23-cv-00724
- Katherine Failla
- Feb. 1, 2023
Background
BJS Wholesale Club removed the case from the Supreme Court of New York, Queens County, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York under 28 U.S.C. § 1441. Removal is the process of moving a case from state court to federal court.
Reasoning
The court held that the case had been removed to the wrong federal district. Under the removal statute, a case must be removed to the federal district covering the place where the state-court action is pending. The Eastern District of New York covers Queens County.
The court explained that removal to the wrong district is an improper-venue problem, not a jurisdictional defect. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), a federal court may transfer a case filed in the wrong district to a district where it could have been brought when doing so serves the interests of justice. The court also reasoned that transferring the case directly was preferable to sending it back to state court for another removal, which would cause additional delay and expense.
Disposition
Judge Katherine Polk Failla ordered the Clerk of Court to remove the case from the Southern District of New York’s docket and transfer it to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The opinion addresses the proper federal venue and does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.