Wilkins v. Lynch

Filing 4

ORDER transferring case to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, for further consideration. The Clerk of Court is directed to forward the file to that district. Signed by Judge J. Randal Hall on 02/09/2017. (thb)[Transferred from Georgia Southern on 2/9/2017.]

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
AUGUSTA DIVISION

VALERIE WILKINS,
Plaintiff,
CV 117-014

v.

LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General
of the United States,
Defendant.

ORDER

Plaintiff filed the above-captioned Title VII employment discrimination case in the

Augusta Division of the Southern District of Georgia.

While Plaintiff is a resident of

Augusta, Georgia, her complaint details events that allegedly occurred at her place of
employment in Edgefield, South Carolina. (See doc. no. 1, p. 5.) Accordingly, the proper
venue for this action is in the District of South Carolina, not the Southern District of Georgia.
42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3).

Title VII actions "may be brought in any judicial district in the State in which the

unlawful employment practice is alleged to have been committed, in the judicial district in
which the employment records relevant to such practice are maintained and administered, or

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); see also Pinson v.

Rumsfeld. 192 F. App'x 811, 817 (11th Cir. 2006) (per curiam) ("The venue provisions of §

2000e-5(f)(3) were intended to be the exclusive venue provisions for Title VII employment
discrimination actions ....").
Plaintiff identifies Edgefield, South Carolina, as the place where the alleged unlawful
employment practices occurred and where she would have worked but for the alleged

unlawful employment practice. (Doc. no. 1, p. 5.) Also, it is apparent from the attached

documentation that Plaintiffs employment records are located in Edgefield, South Carolina.
(See generally, doc. no. 1-1.) Thus, based on the information in the complaint, the Court

determines that the District of South Carolina is the proper venue for Plaintiffs Title VII
claims.

In the interest of justice, instead of dismissing this action, the Court may transfer the
case to the court in which venue would be proper. 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). Because it appears
that the case should have been filed in the District of South Carolina, transfer to that district

is appropriate.

Therefore, it is HEREBY ORDERED that the above-captioned case is
TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, for

further consideration. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to forward the file to that district.

SO ORDERED this Q^dzy ofFebruary, 2017, at Augusta, Georgia.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

SlERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA