Thomas v. Brooklyn Dental Advance Dental Care of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-07095
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Thomas v. Brooklyn Dental, Judge Swain transferred Thomas’s dental-care action to the Eastern District of New York for convenience.
Caze D. Thomas’s case was moved from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York. The order did not decide whether Thomas’s dental-care claims were valid.
What happened
In Caze D. Thomas v. Brooklyn Dental Advance Dental Care of New York, Caze D. Thomas, representing himself, sued a dental-care company and two dentists over care he received on March 9, 2023. He sought damages and an order requiring action by the defendants.
The Southern District of New York found that the case could also be heard in the Eastern District of New York because the dental office and the events were in Brooklyn. The court also said the defendants appeared to be located there and that relevant witnesses and documents would likely be there.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain transferred the action to the Eastern District of New York. The Southern District case was closed, summonses would not issue there, and the transferee court would decide whether Thomas could proceed without paying filing fees; the court also denied fee-free status for any appeal.
The detailed version
- Thomas v. Brooklyn Dental Advance Dental Care of New York · No. 1:23-cv-07095
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 28, 2023
Background
Caze D. Thomas filed this action without a lawyer. The defendants were Brooklyn Dental Advance Dental Care of New York, Dr. Robert Amirian, Dr. Viren Abreo, and unidentified additional employees. Thomas alleged that he received inadequate dental care at Brooklyn Dental on March 9, 2023, and sought damages and injunctive relief, meaning a court order requiring or prohibiting specified conduct.
Venue Analysis
The court explained that federal law permits a case to be filed in certain districts, including a district where a substantial part of the events occurred. The court stated that Brooklyn Dental was in Brooklyn, Kings County, which is in the Eastern District of New York. Because the other defendants’ residences were not specified, the court said it was unclear whether the Southern District was a proper venue under the rule concerning where defendants reside. The court nevertheless recognized that the Eastern District was clearly a proper venue because the events occurred there.
Transfer Decision
The court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which allows transfer to another federal district for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. It concluded that transfer was appropriate because the underlying events allegedly occurred in Kings County, the defendants appeared to be located there, and relevant documents and witnesses would reasonably be expected to be there. The court therefore directed the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Disposition
The court transferred the action to the Eastern District of New York. It stated that the transferee court would decide whether Thomas could proceed without prepaying filing fees. Summonses would not issue from the Southern District of New York, and the order closed the action in that court. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.