SHINABARGAR v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA et al
Filing
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ORDER granting in part 25 Motion to Dismiss. This matter is to be transferred to USDC for District of Columbia. Signed by Judge Miranda M. Du on 3/4/15. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - JC)[Transferred from Nevada on 3/6/2015.]
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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***
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NANCY SHINABARGAR,
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Case No. 3:14-cv-00072-MMD-WGC
Plaintiff,
v.
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Board of Trustees of the University of the
District of Columbia, et al.,
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ORDER
(Defs.’ Motion to Dismiss
– dkt. no. 25)
Defendants.
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Before the Court is a motion to dismiss (“Motion”) filed by Defendants Board of
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Trustees of The University of The District of Columbia (“UDC”), Katherine S. Broderick,
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Annamaria Steward, Marc Strothers, Larry Volz, Thomas Mack, Kemit Mawakana,
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Mohamed Taqi Tirmazi, and Karen Evans (dkt. no. 25). The Court has reviewed Plaintiff
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Nancy Shinabargar’s opposition (dkt. no. 36) and Defendants’ reply (dkt. no. 41). For the
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reasons discussed below, the Court grants the Motion in part and transfers this matter to
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the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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Between August 2011 and February or March 2012, Plaintiff was enrolled in
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UDC’s David A. Clarke School of Law (the “Law School”). (See dkt. no. 12 ¶¶ 4, 20,
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123.) Plaintiff resides in Nevada; she relocated to Washington, D.C., to attend the Law
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School. (Id. ¶¶ 2-3.) Proceeding pro se, Plaintiff alleges that during her time at the Law
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School, UDC and several individuals associated with the institution denied her
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reasonable accommodations for her physical disability and subjected her to retaliatory
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disciplinary processes. She asserts that Defendants’ actions violated her constitutional
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rights and her rights under federal disability and civil rights statutes, and gave rise to
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other common law causes of action. (Id. at 50-59.)
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Plaintiff initiated this action on February 4, 2014. (Dkt. no. 1-1.) Plaintiff filed a
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First Amended Complaint as a matter of course in March 2014. (Dkt. no. 12; see dkt. no.
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11.) Defendants filed the Motion on June 10, 2014, seeking dismissal for lack of
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personal jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(2), improper venue under Rule 12(b)(3), and
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improper pleadings pursuant to Rules 8(a) and 12(b)(6). (Dkt. no. 25.) In the alternative,
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Defendants request a transfer of this matter under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404 and 1406 to the
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U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where UDC is located and where the
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incidents at issue in this matter took place. (Id. at 12.) In her opposition brief, Plaintiff
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states that “she would accept a transfer of venue to [the] U.S. District Court in
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Washington, D.C., in the ‘interests of justice,’ with accommodation made for her ADA-
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qualifying disability.” (Dkt. no. 36 ¶ 62.) In light of the fact that the parties do not dispute
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a transfer to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Court finds that such
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a transfer would be in the interest of justice. The Court need not resolve Defendants’
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jurisdictional arguments before transferring this matter. See Goldlawr, Inc. v. Heiman,
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369 U.S. 463, 466 (1962).
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It is ordered that Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (dkt. no. 25) is granted in part.
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This matter is to be transferred to the United States District Court for the District of
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Columbia.
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DATED THIS 4th day of March 2015.
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MIRANDA M. DU
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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