Gupta v. Perez et al
Filing
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ORDER by Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd denying 36 Motion to Reopen Case and for Relief from Transfer Order. (hrllc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/31/2016)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SAN JOSE DIVISION
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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ARVIND GUPTA,
Plaintiff,
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Case No. 5:14-cv-01102-HRL
v.
THOMAS E. PEREZ, Secretary of Labor (in
his official capacity); and WIPRO
LIMITED,
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO
REOPEN CASE AND FOR RELIEF
FROM TRANSFER ORDER
Re: Dkt. No. 36
Defendants.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), this court granted defendants’ motion to transfer this
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action to the District of New Jersey. The case proceeded there, and the record presented indicates
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that the matter was fully litigated on the merits. The New Jersey District Court denied Gupta’s
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motion for summary judgment and granted defendants’ motions for summary judgment, see Gupta
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v. Perez, 101 F. Supp.3d 437 (D.N.J. 2015), and subsequently denied Gupta’s motion for
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reconsideration, see Gupta v. Perez, No. 14-4054 (FLW), 2015 WL 5098173 (D.N.J., Aug. 31,
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2015). On appeal, the Third Circuit affirmed. See Gupta v. Sec’y U.S. Dep’t of Labor, Nos. 15-
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3194, 16-1305, 2016 WL 2587279 (3d Cir., May 5, 2016).
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Gupta now moves this court for an order reopening this case and for relief from the transfer
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order, arguing that the order transferring the matter to New Jersey was erroneous. Defendants
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oppose the motion. The matter is deemed suitable for determination without oral argument, and
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the September 6, 2016 hearing is vacated. Civ. L.R. 7-1(b). Upon consideration of the moving
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and responding papers, Gupta’s motion is denied.
Once the case was docketed in New Jersey, this court lost all jurisdiction of the matter.
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See Benjamin v. Bixby, No. 1:08-cv-1025 AWI DLB, 2009 WL 2588870 at *1 (E.D. Cal., Aug.
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18, 2009) (stating that “the Ninth Circuit has adopted the rule that a § 1404 transfer ‘ends the
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jurisdiction of both the transferor court and the corresponding appellate court when the motion is
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granted and the papers are entered in the transferee court’s records.’”) (quoting Lou v. Belzberg,
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834 F.2d 730, 733 (9th Cir.1987)); see also Chrysler Credit Corp. v. Country Chrysler, Inc., 928
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F.2d 1509, 1516-17 (10th Cir. 1991) (“Once the files in a case are transferred physically to the
court in the transferee district, the transferor court loses all jurisdiction over the case, including the
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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power to review the transfer.”). Although “the Ninth Circuit has recognized exceptions to this rule
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for its own appellate review,” this court is unaware of any such exceptions for district courts.
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Benjamin, 2009 WL 2588870 at *1. Gupta’s citation to the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Terenkian
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therefore is unavailing. See Terenkian v. Republic of Iraq, 694 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2012)
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(concluding that a district court’s transfer order does not divest an appellate court of jurisdiction
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over an interlocutory, but immediately appealable, and timely appealed district court decision). In
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any event, at the time this court issued its transfer order, Gupta did not challenge that order in any
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way, seek mandamus relief, or move to have the case transferred back to this district. Indeed, the
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docket indicates that he proceeded to fully litigate the matter in New Jersey.1
Gupta argues that this case should not have been transferred, asserting that the New Jersey
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District Court concluded, sua sponte, that it lacked jurisdiction to hear his case. See Chrysler
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Credit Corp., 928 F.2d at 1517 n.6 (noting that “the mere transfer of the record cannot ratify an
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otherwise invalid transfer.”). On the record presented, however, this court finds no merit in
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Gupta’s assertion.
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Gupta apparently did move the New Jersey District Court to reopen the case and to transfer the
matter back to this district---but only after the Third Circuit issued its decision on appeal. The
New Jersey District Court denied Gupta’s motion. Case No. 3:14-cv-04054-FLW-DEA, Dkts. 9598. He filed the instant motion with this court the very next day.
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Based on the foregoing, Gupta’s motion is denied.
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SO ORDERED.
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Dated: August 31, 2016
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HOWARD R. LLOYD
United States Magistrate Judge
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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5:14-cv-01102-HRL Notice has been electronically mailed to:
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Arvind Gupta
arvgup@gmail.com
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Brian Ted Hafter
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James A. Scharf
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Patricia L. Peden
brian.hafter@rimonlaw.com, david.kline@rimonlaw.com
james.scharf@usdoj.gov, mimi.lam@usdoj.gov
Patricia.Peden@leclairryan.com, adriana.lawrence@leclairryan.com
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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