Nunez v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-01405
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Nunez v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge Swain transferred Javier Nunez’s disability-benefits case to Pennsylvania because venue was improper.
Javier Nunez’s Social Security case was moved from the Southern District of New York to the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The transferee court will decide whether he may proceed without paying fees; the opinion does not decide his eligibility for disability benefits.
What happened
In Nunez v. Commissioner of Social Security, Javier Nunez, representing himself, asked the court to review the Commissioner of Social Security’s decision denying his application for disability benefits.
Nunez alleged that he lives in Pittson, Pennsylvania, in Luzerne County. Federal law requires a Social Security review case to be filed in the district where the plaintiff lives or has a principal place of business. Because Luzerne County is in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Southern District of New York found that venue was not proper there.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the case transferred to the Middle District of Pennsylvania under the federal venue-transfer law. The New York court closed the case, left any decision about proceeding without paying fees to the transferee court, and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Nunez v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:24-cv-01405
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 26, 2024
Background
Javier Nunez brought this action without a lawyer seeking review of the Commissioner of Social Security’s decision denying his application for disability benefits under the Social Security Act. The opinion cites the judicial-review provisions in 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(g) and 1383(c)(3).
Nunez alleged that he resides in Pittson, Pennsylvania, which the opinion states is in Luzerne County. The court stated that Social Security review actions may be brought only in the federal district where the plaintiff resides or has a principal place of business, unless the plaintiff resides or has a principal place of business outside every federal judicial district, in which case the action may be brought in the District of Columbia.
Venue ruling
The Southern District of New York concluded that Nunez’s residence was outside that district, so venue was not proper there. Because Luzerne County is within the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the court determined that venue lies in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the action transferred under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The order did not decide whether the Commissioner correctly denied disability benefits. It directed that the transferee court decide whether Nunez may proceed without paying fees, stated that no summons would issue from the Southern District of New York, and closed the case there. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.