Greene v. Greyhound Lines, Inc.

Background

Cedric Greene filed this action without a lawyer against Greyhound Lines, Inc. He alleged that an incident occurred in Oakland, California, in January 2015, involving a ticket for his return trip to Los Angeles. According to the complaint, Greene was the victim of theft two days before his scheduled January 12, 2015, return trip. He believed Greyhound would let him board an earlier bus, but he said he was instead told to leave the station and return at the scheduled time. He alleged that he had nowhere to stay in Oakland while waiting. A Greyhound employee gave him information about a shelter, but Greene did not want to stay there. Greene also described calling 911 and later boarding a bus that day. He asserted claims for breach of agreement and negligence and sought $80,000.

The opinion states that Greene had previously filed suits based on the same facts in multiple federal courts. It also references a prior related proceeding in which a seemingly identical incident was described as occurring in June 2015 rather than January 2015, and states that the claims in that proceeding were dismissed as untimely.

Venue analysis

The court discussed the federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391. In general, a civil case may be filed where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, if neither of those options is available, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction for the dispute.

The court said Greene’s complaint did not provide facts showing that Greyhound could be treated as residing in the Southern District of New York. The allegations showed that all events giving rise to the claims occurred in Oakland, California, outside the Southern District of New York. The court therefore ordered a transfer under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a).

The opinion contains an internal inconsistency. It correctly states that Oakland is in Alameda County and that Alameda County is in the Northern District of California, but it then says that venue is proper in the Northern District of New York and orders transfer there. The order’s stated destination is the Northern District of New York.

Ruling and effect

Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. The order did not decide the merits of Greene’s breach-of-agreement or negligence claims. It stated that the transferee court would decide whether Greene could continue without prepaying filing fees. The Southern District of New York would not issue a summons, and the order closed the case in that district.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court’s prior warning about possible restrictions on future fee-free filings in that court remained in effect.