Townsend v. British Petroleum
Filing
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ORDER AND REASONS re 9 MOTION to Change Venue to the Northern District of Alabama. IT IS ORDERED that the instant matter be TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Middle Division.Signed by Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Wilkinson, Jr on 2/19/2016.(my)(NEF:CJB)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
ROBERT JAMES TOWNSEND
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO. 15-5033
BRITISH PETROLEUM
SECTION “J”(2)
ORDER AND REASONS ON MOTION
The BELO portion of the Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement Agreement
in In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20,
2010, MDL No. 2179, Record Doc. No. 6427-1 at pp. 60-73, and this court’s Case
Management Orders, Record Doc. No. 14099 in MDL No. 2179 and Record Doc. No. 6
in the captioned case, provide for determination by this court, with the input of the
parties, of the appropriate venue for discovery and dispositive proceedings. Pro se
plaintiff Robert James Townsend has requested that this case “remain in the Eastern
District of Louisiana under the Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920).” Record Doc.
No. 8. Defendants have filed a Motion to Transfer Venue to the United States District
Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Record Doc. No. 9. Having considered the
record, the applicable law and the written submissions plaintiff and counsel for
defendants, IT IS ORDERED that defendant’s motion is GRANTED and that the instant
matter is TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Northern District
of Alabama, Middle Division, for the following reasons.
The complaint alleges that plaintiff resides in Gadsden, Alabama, which is located
in Etowah County in the Northern District of Alabama, Middle Division. 28 U.S.C. §
81(a)(6).
Paragraph III(2) of this court’s BELO Cases Initial Proceedings Case Management
Order provides that “the factors set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) and applicable case law”
govern determination of the appropriate venue for discovery and dispositive proceedings.
28 U.S.C. § 1404 provides: “For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest
of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division
where it might have been brought or to any district or division to which all parties have
consented.” Applicable case law establishes that factors relevant to the court’s venue
determination include “(1) the relative ease of access to sources of proof; (2) the
availability of compulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses; (3) the cost of
attendance for willing witnesses; and (4) all other practical problems that make trial of
a case easy, expeditious and inexpensive.” In re Volkswagen of Am., Inc., 545 F.3d 304,
315 (5th Cir. 2008) (en banc) (quoting In re Volkswagen AG, 371 F.3d 201, 203 (5th Cir.
2004)). Other relevant public interest factors include “(1) the administrative difficulties
flowing from court congestion; (2) the local interest in having localized interests decided
at home; (3) the familiarity of the forum with the law that will govern the case; and (4)
the avoidance of unnecessary problems of conflict of laws [or in] the application of
foreign law.” Id.
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Considering these factors and the disclosure information provided by plaintiff,
Record Doc. No. 9-1, I find that the most appropriate venue for further proceedings in
this BELO lawsuit is the Northern District of Alabama, Middle Division. According to
his disclosures, plaintiff currently lives in Gadsden, Alabama, which is located in Etowah
County in the Northern District of Alabama, Middle Division. 28 U.S.C. § 81(a)(6).
Plaintiff’s 2010, 2011, and 2014 tax returns also list residence addresses within Gadsden,
Alabama. The witnesses who know about plaintiff’s alleged injury are identified as
“[p]eople where I live.” Plaintiff’s most recent employer is located in Gadsden, and his
job before that one was in Anniston, Alabama, also located in the Northern District of
Alabama. Perhaps most significantly, two of his principal medical care providers,
Quality of Life Health Care in Anniston and Riverview Regional Medical Center in
Gadsden, are located within the Northern District of Alabama. It follows that important
and highly relevant documents, specifically plaintiff’s key medical records, are located
in the Northern District of Alabama.
Plaintiff’s disclosures also indicate that the only significant connection between
himself and this case and the Eastern District of Louisiana is the approximately five
weeks during which he worked during 2013 in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. His brief
statement to this court stating his preference for the case to remain in this district offers
no reason relevant to the Section 1404 factors for that preference. Significantly, none of
plaintiff’s medical care providers are located in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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For the foregoing reasons, I find that venue is both proper and most appropriate
in the Northern District of Alabama. The convenience of the parties and witnesses and
the interests of justice warrant transfer of this case. A magistrate judge is authorized to
transfer a case of this sort to another district. Balawajder v. Scott, 160 F.3d 1066, 1067
(5th Cir. 1999). Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the instant matter be TRANSFERRED to the United
States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Middle Division.
19th
New Orleans, Louisiana, this _________ day of February, 2016.
JOSEPH C. WILKINSON, JR.
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
CLERK TO NOTIFY:
HON. CARL J. BARBIER
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