Traylor v. MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge et al
Filing
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ORDER denying Plaintiff's 2 Motion to Transfer Venue signed by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour. (PM)
THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE
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LONNIE RAY TRAYLOR,
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Plaintiff,
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ORDER
v.
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CASE NO. C17-0815-JCC
MW PRINCE HALL GRAND
LODGE, and GREGORY D. WRAGGS,
SR.,
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Defendants.
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This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s motion to transfer venue (Dkt. No. 2).
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Having thoroughly considered the parties’ briefing and the relevant record, the Court finds oral
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argument unnecessary and hereby DENIES the motion for the reasons explained herein.
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Plaintiff moves to transfer this case to the Tacoma division under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).
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Initially, the Court notes venue is proper here under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(1) and (2). The
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complaint does not state where the discrimination took place, but Defendants and their meeting
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hall are located in Seattle, thus it is reasonable to infer the alleged discrimination took place in
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Seattle. (Dkt. No. 1 at 1.)
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Plaintiff argues all of the evidence and witnesses with knowledge are located in Tacoma.
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(Dkt. No. 2 at 4–5.) “Ease of access to evidence is generally not a predominate concern in
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evaluating whether to transfer venue because ‘advances in technology have made it easy for
ORDER
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documents to be transferred to different locations.’” Byler v. Deluxe Corp., 222 F. Supp. 3d 885,
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906–07 (S.D. Cal. 2016) (quoting Metz v. U.S. Life Ins. Co. in City of New York, 674 F. Supp. 2d
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1141, 1148 (C.D. Cal. 2009)). Accordingly, Plaintiff’s argument that it will be easier to access
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the evidence is not persuasive. (Dkt. No. 2 at 4.)
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Furthermore, “before a court will grant a plaintiff’s motion for a change of venue, he
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must first show a change in circumstances since the filing of his suit.” James v. Daley & Lewis,
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406 F. Supp. 645, 648–49 (D. Del. 1976). Since filing his lawsuit, Plaintiff has not demonstrated
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any “change in circumstances” that would justify the Court exercising its discretion. (See Dkt.
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No. 2.) It would be unfair to allow Plaintiff, after filling in this division, to select another forum,
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forcing Defendants to scramble to follow him.
For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion to transfer venue (Dkt. No. 2) is DENIED.
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DATED this 14th day of July, 2017.
A
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John C. Coughenour
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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ORDER
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