Lee v. City University N.Y.

Background

Brenda Lee brought this action without a lawyer against the City University of New York and several individual defendants identified in the complaint as Mr. Toback, Professor Buttaro, a biology professor, Dr. and Professor Hessi, Dean of Students Michael Poindexter, and Rebecca Carado. Lee alleged that her constitutional rights were violated during events at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. The court had previously allowed Lee to proceed without prepaying filing fees.

Venue Analysis

The court considered whether the Southern District of New York was a proper place for the case and whether another district would be more convenient. Under the federal venue statute, a civil action may generally be filed where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, in limited circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s authority.

The court noted that Lee had not provided the individual defendants’ specific residences. It also noted that the complaint alleged that the events occurred at Kingsborough, which is in Brooklyn and therefore in the Eastern District of New York. The court stated that CUNY was arguably a resident of both districts because its campuses are located throughout the New York City metropolitan area. Even assuming venue was proper in the Southern District, the court concluded that venue was also proper in the Eastern District because the substantial events occurred there.

The court then applied the federal transfer statute, which allows a court to transfer a case to another proper district for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. It emphasized that the underlying events occurred in Brooklyn, where Lee resides and where the individual defendants appeared to work. The court also considered it reasonable to expect that relevant documents and witnesses would be in Brooklyn. Because Lee did not reside in the Southern District and the operative events did not occur there, the court gave her choice of forum less weight.

Disposition

The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Judge Katherine Polk Failla directed the Clerk of Court to make the transfer, ordered that a summons not issue from the Southern District, and closed the case in that court. The order addressed venue and convenience; it did not decide whether Lee’s constitutional-rights allegations were valid.