Herring v. Veolia Environmental SVC

122 So. 3d 839, 2013 WL 856636
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 8, 2013
Docket2120270
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 122 So. 3d 839 (Herring v. Veolia Environmental SVC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Herring v. Veolia Environmental SVC, 122 So. 3d 839, 2013 WL 856636 (Ala. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

THOMAS, Judge.

Veolia Environmental SVC (“Veolia”)1 is the defendant in a workers’ compensation action brought in the Etowah Circuit Court by Christopher Herring. On August 29, 2012, Veolia filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, to change venue under the forum non conveniens statute, Ala.Code 1975, § 6-3-21.1, seeking to have the action transferred to the Tal-ladega Circuit Court. In support of its motion, Veolia provided an “Employer’s First Report of Injury or Occupational Disease” form (“the first-report-of-injury form”), completed after Herring reported his injury to his supervisor, and the affidavit of Odis Moore, Veolia’s area safety manager.

The first-report-of-injury form lists Veo-lia’s address as 1430 Speedway Boulevard, Lincoln, Alabama. The first-report-of-injury form also indicates, by virtue of a checked box, that Herring’s injury occurred on Veolia’s premises. On the first-report-of-injury form, the typed description of the injury indicates that Herring told his supervisor that he injured his knee on or about April 18, 2011, “when he was climbing ... on his truck to get a cart. He alleges he hit his right knee on the lip of the packing blade.”

Moore’s affidavit indicates that Veolia’s principal place of business is located in Talladega County. He also avers that “all witnesses who were involved in this accident made the basis of this lawsuit were employees who worked out of’ Veolia’s Talladega County location. Finally, Moore states that it would be inconvenient for Veolia to defend the action in Etowah [841]*841County because Herring worked out of Veolia’s Talladega County location and “most witnesses reside nearer to Talladega County than to Etowah County.”

On October 10, 2012, Herring filed a response in opposition to the motion to transfer. The trial court denied Veolia’s motion on October 31, 2012. Veolia sought reconsideration of the denial of its motion to transfer on November 19, 2012, and the trial court denied that motion on November 20, 2012. Veolia filed this petition in our supreme court on December 10, 2012, and that court transferred the petition to this court, because it falls within our jurisdiction, on January 7, 2013.

In addition to the materials mentioned above, Veolia has appended to its petition an affidavit from Erskine Watson Riddle, Herring’s direct supervisor and an expected witness. Based on the fact that Riddle’s affidavit was not mentioned in Veo-lia’s November 19, 2012, motion seeking reconsideration of the trial court’s denial of the motion to transfer and on the fact that the affidavit is dated November 20, 2012, the day after Veolia moved the trial court to reconsider its denial of the motion to transfer, we question whether Riddle’s affidavit was submitted to the trial court. In any event, the affidavit states only that Riddle would be inconvenienced if he had to travel to Etowah County for the trial.

Veolia argues that it is entitled to a writ of mandamus directing the Eto-wah Circuit Court to transfer the action to the Talladega Circuit Court because, it contends, it established both that Tallade-ga County would be a more convenient forum for the parties and witnesses and that the interests of justice compelled transfer of the action under § 6-3-21.1. Veolia relies heavily on our supreme court’s opinion in Ex parte Indiana Mills and Manufacturing, Inc., 10 So.3d 536 (Ala.2008). However, as explained below, we cannot agree that Veolia has met the burden of proving that it has a clear legal right to the relief it seeks, which is a requirement for mandamus relief.

“The proper method for obtaining review of a' denial of a motion . for a change of venue in a civil action is to petition for a writ of mandamus. Lawler Mobile Homes, Inc. v. Tarver, 492 So.2d 297, 302 (Ala.1986). ‘When we consider a mandamus petition relating to a venue ruling, our scope of review is to determine if the trial court abused its discretion, i.e., whether it exercised its discretion in an arbitrary and capricious manner.’ Ex parte Integon Corp., 672 So.2d 497, 499 (Ala.1995). ‘A .writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, requiring the showing of: (1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the order sought; (2) an imperative duty on the respondent to perform, accompanied by a refusal to do so; (3) the lack of another adequate remedy; and (4) the properly invoked jurisdiction of the court.’ Ex parte Nichols, 757 So.2d 374, 376 (Ala.1999).”

Ex parte Yocum, 963 So.2d 600, 602 (Ala.2007).

Veolia relies on the forum non con-veniens statute, § 6-3-21.1(a), which reads:

“With respect to civil actions filed in an appropriate venue, any court of general jurisdiction shall, for the convenience of parties and witnesses, or in the interest of justice, transfer any civil action or any claim in any civil action to any court of general jurisdiction in which the action might have been properly filed and the case shall proceed as though originally filed therein. Provided, however, this section shall not apply to cases subject to [Ala.Code 1975], Section 30-3-5.”

[842]*842Under the forum non conveniens statute, a trial court must transfer an action when a party seeking the transfer proves either (1) that the convenience of the parties or witnesses would be significantly aided by transfer, see Ex parte Nichols, 757 So.2d 374, 378 (Ála.1999) (“[T]he burden is on the party moving for the transfer to prove that the transferee forum is significantly more convenient than the plaintiffs chosen forum.”), or (2) that the “interests of justice” necessitate a transfer. Ex parte National Sec. Ins. Co., 727 So.2d 788, 790 (Ala.1998) (“[T]he ‘interest of justice’ [prong] require[s] the transfer of [an] action from a county with little, if any, connection to the action, to the county with a strong connection to the action.”).

“ ‘A defendant moving for a transfer under § 6-3-21.1 has the initial burden of showing that the transfer is justified, based on the convenience of the parties or witnesses or based on the interest of justice.’ ” Ex parte Kane, 989 So.2d 509, 511 (Ala.2008) (quoting Ex parte National Sec. Ins. Co., 727 So.2d at 789). “Our review is limited to only those facts that were before the trial court.” Ex parte Kane, 989 So.2d at 511. Further, “those facts ‘must be based upon “eviden-tiary material,” which does not include statements of counsel in motions, briefs, and arguments.’ ” Ex parte Indiana Mills & Mfg., Inc., 10 So.3d at 541 n. 3 (quoting Ex parte ADT Sec. Servs., Inc., 933 So.2d 343, 345 (Ala.2006)).

The facts established by the meager evi-dentiary materials presented to the trial court and made exhibits to Veolia’s mandamus petition establish that Herring’s injury occurred in Talladega County, that Veo-lia’s principal place of business is located in Talladega County, that expected witnesses were employed by Veolia in Tal-ladega County, that Veolia would find it inconvenient to defend the action in Eto-wah County, that expected witness Riddle would find it inconvenient to travel to Eto-wah County for trial, and that, according to Moore, “most witnesses reside nearer to Talladega County than to Etowah County.” This court must consider whether these facts are sufficient to require a transfer of the action under the forum non conveniens statute.

We first consider whether a transfer of the action was required under the convenience-of-the-parties prong.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
122 So. 3d 839, 2013 WL 856636, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/herring-v-veolia-environmental-svc-alacivapp-2013.