Thomas v. Shulkin

Filing 18

ORDER directing parties to submit a list of controlling authorities for courts within the Fourth Circuit, which authorities the parties contend support their individual positions as stated in the Motion to Dismiss and Opposition.See Order for details. Signed by Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf on 11/16/2018. (Pro se litigant served by US Mail.) (ni)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
ASHEVILLE DIVISION
1:18 CV 136
ANGELA L. THOMAS,
Plaintiff,
v.
ROBERT WILKIE, Acting Secretary
United States Department of Veterans’
Affairs,
Defendant.
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ORDER

This matter is before the Court sua sponte. A review of the Court’s docket reveals
the following:
On July 12, 2017, Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed her Complaint in the United
States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia (Doc. 1) against David J. Shulkin,
Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
On August 8, 2017, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint (Doc. 4).
Effective March 28, 2018, Robert Wilkie succeeded David J. Shulkin as the Acting
Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs and therefore was automatically substituted for Secretary
Shulkin pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Doc. 13 at n. 1).
On April 20, 2018, Defendant Wilkie filed a Motion to Dismiss or Transfer Venue
(Doc. 13).

On May 10, 2018, Plaintiff filed an Opposition (Doc. 14).
By Order entered on May 15, 2018, the Honorable G. R. Smith, United States
Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, granted Defendant Wilkie’s Motion
to Transfer Venue and transferred the case to this Court. Judge Smith deferred ruling on
the Motion to Dismiss, and that Motion is now pending before the undersigned (Doc. 15).
In their Motion to Dismiss and Opposition, respectively, the parties relied on case
law from the Eleventh Circuit and elsewhere, which is not surprising given that the case
was pending in the Southern District of Georgia when those documents were filed.
However, the transfer of this matter to this Court may require the application of different
authorities.
The parties are therefore each DIRECTED to submit a list of controlling authorities
for courts within the Fourth Circuit, which authorities the parties contend support their
individual positions as stated in the Motion to Dismiss and Opposition. Bullet point lists of
citations with parenthetical descriptions of the case holdings will be acceptable in this
regard.1 The parties’ lists of authorities are due thirty (30) days from the entry of this Order.
This Order is not meant to be an invitation for supplemental or re-stated arguments
supporting or opposing the Motion but rather simply for additional citations and authorities

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Plaintiff has elected to proceed pro se and appropriate latitude will be given in that respect.

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that, in light of the transfer of the case, may assist the Court in addressing the Motion more
expeditiously.
Signed: November 16, 2018

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