Drummond v. CVS Pharmacy

Background

Stanley Otis Drummond, proceeding without a lawyer, brought this federal civil-rights action against CVS Pharmacy, identified as the CVS location at 218 Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. He alleged that a store manager and a security guard violated his civil rights at that location. The opinion states that Drummond resides in Brooklyn and that the events underlying his claims occurred there.

Venue analysis

Venue is the federal district where a civil case may properly be heard. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391, venue generally may be proper where a defendant resides or where a substantial part of the events occurred. The court concluded from the complaint that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York because the pharmacy was in Brooklyn and the alleged events occurred there. Brooklyn is in the Eastern District of New York.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406, when a case is filed in the wrong venue, a court may transfer it to a district where it could have been brought if transfer serves the interests of justice. The court found that the Eastern District of New York was the proper venue and that transfer was in the interest of justice.

Disposition

Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the clerk to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The Southern District court stated that the transferee court would decide whether Drummond could proceed without prepaying filing fees. It also ordered that no summons issue from the Southern District of New York and stated that the order closed that case. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied the plaintiff permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion did not decide whether Drummond's civil-rights allegations were legally valid.