Abatayo v. Tella
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-00782
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Abatayo v. Tella, Chief Judge Swain transferred the action to the Eastern District of New York because alleged events, property, defendants, witnesses, and documents centered in Queens.
Jeffrey Abatayo and the named defendants are affected by the transfer: the action was moved from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York, and the transferee court will decide whether Abatayo may proceed without prepaying fees.
What happened
In Abatayo v. Tella, Jeffrey Abatayo, representing himself, sued Augustin Tella, Badruzzama Tapadar, and unidentified employees of Tella’s legal office. He alleged that documents falsely indicated an eviction date and that Tella threatened him in court.
The court said it was unclear whether the Southern District of New York was a proper location for the case because Abatayo did not specify where the defendants lived. But it found that the Eastern District of New York was a proper location because the alleged eviction-related events, the apartment, the defendants, and likely witnesses and documents were in Queens County.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the case transferred to the Eastern District of New York. The Southern District court closed the action there, did not issue summonses, left any decision about proceeding without paying filing fees to the transferee court, and denied fee-free status for any appeal from the transfer order.
The detailed version
- Abatayo v. Tella · No. 1:24-cv-00782
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 13, 2024
Background
Jeffrey Abatayo filed this action without a lawyer and invoked federal-question jurisdiction. He identified the federal basis of his claims as alleged fabrication of documents stating that a marshal had set an eviction date even though, according to him, the trial had not started. He also alleged that Augustin Tella threatened him inside court. The defendants named in the complaint were Augustin Tella, Esq.; Badruzzama Tapadar; and “John Doe (fictitious names employees of Atty. Augustin Tella Legal Office).”
Venue Analysis
The court considered the federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391. Abatayo did not state where any defendant resided, although he alleged that all of their mailing addresses were in Queens County. The court therefore said it was unclear whether the Southern District of New York was a proper venue based on the defendants’ residence.
The court concluded that the Eastern District of New York was a proper venue because the claims appeared to involve alleged efforts to evict Abatayo from his Queens County apartment and ongoing or anticipated proceedings in the Housing Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York in Queens County.
The court then applied 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which allows transfer to another federal district where the case could have been brought when transfer would be more convenient for the parties and witnesses and would serve the interests of justice. It found transfer appropriate because the underlying events allegedly occurred in Queens County, the property and defendants were located there, and relevant documents and witnesses could reasonably be expected to be there.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The order closed the action in the Southern District of New York. Summonses were not to issue from that court, and the transferee court was left to decide whether Abatayo could proceed without prepaying fees. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal from the order.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.