Chopourian v. Catholic Healthcare West et al

Filing 13

STIPULATION AND ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE to the U.S. District Court, Easten District of CA (Sacramento). ***Civil Case Terminated. Signed by Judge Saundra Brown Armstong, on 9/30/09. (lrc, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/2/2009) Modified on 10/5/2009 (jlm, COURT STAFF).

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JUDITH CLARK MARTIN, STATE BAR NO. 173557 SCOTT H. CAVANAUGH, STATE BAR NO. 245261 LA FOLLETTE, JOHNSON, DE HAAS, FESLER & AMES 655 University Avenue, Suite 119 Sacramento, California 95825 Phone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Email: [e-mail] Attorneys for Defendant, CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST dba MERCY GENERAL HOSPITAL (erroneously sued and served herein as CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST and MERCY GENERAL HOSPITAL) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST,) MERCY GENERAL HOSPITAL, AND ) ) DOES 1 through 20, inclusive, ) ) Defendants. __________________________________ ) ANI CHOPOURIAN, CASE NO. CV 09-03875 SBA S T I P U L A T I O N AND ORDER TRANSFER JUDICIAL DISTRICTS TO

SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE COURT, IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED BY AND BETWEEN THE PARTIES HERETO, THROUGH THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNSEL OF RECORD: 1. Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint (FAC) was removed to the District Court for the Northern District of California on August 20, 2009. 2. Pursuant to Judge Saundra B. Armstrong's standing order, the parties have met and conferred regarding a motion to transfer judicial districts pursuant to 28 U.S.C.S. 1404(a). The parties have agreed to transfer judicial districts from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District of California.
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STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO TRANSFER JUDICIAL DISTRICTS Case No.: CV 09-03875 SBA

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3. Good cause supports the stipulated agreement to transfer judicial districts. As a preliminary matter, the instant lawsuit could have been brought in the Eastern District of California under Title VII's venue provision. Title VII actions may be brought (1) in any judicial district in the State in which the unlawful employment practice is alleged to have been committed, (2) in the judicial district in which the employment records relevant to such practice are maintained and administered, or (3) in the judicial district in which the aggrieved person would have worked but for the alleged unlawful employment practice. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3). Here, plaintiff alleges that she was harassed and discriminated against at Mercy General Hospital. FAC 2:9-12; 3:13-15. The parties agree that Mercy General Hospital is located in Sacramento, California and that Mercy General Hospital is in the Eastern District. Defendant represents that employment records relevant to plaintiff's allegations are maintained and administered in Sacramento, California. Thus, venue in the Eastern District would have been proper pursuant to subsections (2) and (3) of 28 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3). 4. The parties agree that access to proof will be easier in the Eastern District because witnesses are located and relevant records are stored in the Eastern District. All of the alleged events that form the basis for plaintiff's complaint took place in the Eastern District. All of Catholic Healthcare West's (CHW) potential witnesses reside in the greater Sacramento area, which is within the Eastern District. Primary witnesses for CHW will likely be Jean Scrafton, Scott Harper, and Renee Dodge. All three of CHW's early identified witnesses live and work in Sacramento. The physicians who allegedly harassed plaintiff reside and work in the Eastern District. Defendant represents that all employment records related to plaintiff's employment by CHW are maintained in the offices of Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, California. Based on defendant's representations that CHW's witnesses and records are located in the Eastern District, indeed are located in the very city in which the Eastern District Court sits, the parties agree that transfer to the Eastern District will be for the convenience of the witnesses and ease of access to proof in keeping with the requirements of 28 U.S.C.S. 1404(a). ///
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STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO TRANSFER JUDICIAL DISTRICTS Case No.: CV 09-03875 SBA

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5. Finally, the parties agree that the transfer will satisfy the interest of justice prong of 28 U.S.C.S 1404(a) because the case will be more efficiently handled by a court more closely located to the witnesses and locus of the claims. SO STIPULATED. LA FOLLETTE, JOHNSON, DE HAAS, FESLER & AMES

By:___________________________________ JUDITH CLARK MARTIN SCOTT H. CAVANAUGH Attorneys for Defendant, CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST dba MERCY GENERAL HOSPITAL (erroneously sued and served herein as CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST and MERCY GENERAL HOSPITAL) 655 University Avenue, Suite 119 Sacramento, CA 95825 [phone] [phone] Facsimile Email: [e-mail] Email: [e-mail] BOXER & GERSON, LLP

By:___________________________________ LESLIE F. LEVY
300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 500 Oakland, CA 94612 [phone] [phone] Facsimile Email: [e-mail]

PROPOSED ORDER PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: 9/30/09

______________________________________ The Honorable SAUNDRA B. ARMSTRONG UNITED STATES JUDGE
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STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO TRANSFER JUDICIAL DISTRICTS Case No.: CV 09-03875 SBA