Mateos v. Select Energy Services, LLC

919 F. Supp. 2d 817, 2013 WL 323222, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11368
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedJanuary 28, 2013
DocketCV. No. SA-12-CV-00529-DAE
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 919 F. Supp. 2d 817 (Mateos v. Select Energy Services, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mateos v. Select Energy Services, LLC, 919 F. Supp. 2d 817, 2013 WL 323222, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11368 (W.D. Tex. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO TRANSFER VENUE PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1404

DAVID ALAN EZRA, Senior District Judge.

On January 23, 2013, the Court heard Defendant’s Motion to Transfer Venue Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404 (“Motion”). Michael K Burke, Esq., appeared at the hearing on behalf of Selene-Mateos, Noe Montemayor and Fernando Cedillo (“Plaintiffs”); James M. Cleary, Jr., Esq., appeared at the hearing- on behalf of Select Energy Services, L.L.C. (“Defendant” or “Select Energy”). After reviewing the Motion and the supporting and opposing memoranda, the Court DENIES Defendant’s Motion. (“Mot.,” Doc. # 7.)

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs are former- employees of Defendant Select Energy. On May 30, 2012, Plaintiffs filed a complaint for relief pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., alleging that Defendant failed to pay them and other similarly situated safety coordinators overtime wages as required by the FLSA. Defendant is an oil and gas service company headquartered in Houston that provides wellsite solutions, such as wellsite construction and rig logistics, to the oil and gas industry in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. (Mot. at 1-2.) Plaintiffs claim that they and other safety coordinators employed by Defendant routinely worked in excess of forty hours per week. (“Compl.,” Doc. # 1 ¶ 12.) -Plaintiffs allege that Defendant was aware that Plaintiffs and other similarly situated individuals worked more than forty hours per week, but paid them a set amount regardless of the number of hours worked. (ComplV 13-14.) Defendant admits that its safety coordinators are paid a set weekly amount, but -claims that the position is an administrative position and therefore exempt from the FLSA’s overtime provisions. (Doc. #5 ¶ 1.) Plaintiffs seek to certify a collective action under the provisions of the FLSA. (Compl. at 5 ¶ 1.) The three current Plaintiffs reside in and primarily worked in the Western District of Texas. (Opp. at 1.)

[820]*820On May 30, 2012, Plaintiffs filed the Complaint. (Compl.) On July 3, 2012, Defendant filed an Answer to Plaintiffs’ Original Complaint. (Doc. #5.) On July 31, 2012, Defendant filed the instant Motion to Transfer Venue Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404. (Doc. # 7.) On August 8, 2012, Plaintiffs filed a Response in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion (“Opp.,” doc. # 8) and on August 15, 2012, Defendant filed a Reply (“Reply,” doc. # 9). At the hearing on January 23, 2013, Defendant cited to supplemental authority in support of its Motion, and with the Court’s permission, Plaintiffs filed a response addressing Defendant’s supplemental authority on January 25, 2013 (doc. # 15).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Title 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) provides that, for the convenience of parties and witnesses, 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. 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). “Section 1404(a) is intended to place discretion. in the district court to adjudicate motions for transfer according to an ‘individualized, case-by-case consideration of convenience and fairness.’ ” Stewart Org., Inc. v. Ricoh Corp., 487 U.S. 22, 29, 108 S.Ct. 2239, 101 L.Ed.2d 22 (1988) (quoting Van Dusen v. Barrack, 376 U.S. 612, 622, 84 S.Ct. 805, 11 L.Ed.2d 945 (1964)). The party moving for transfer carries the burden of showing good cause. See Humble Oil & Ref. Co. v. Bell Marine Service, Inc., 321 F.2d 53, 56 (5th Cir.1963); see also In re Volkswagen of Am., Inc., 545 F.3d 304, 314 (5th Cir.2008)(hereinafter “Volkswagen II ”)(“When viewed in the context of § 1404(a), to show good cause means that a moving party, in order to support its claim for a transfer, must ... clearly demonstrate that a transfer is ‘[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice.’ ’’)(quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a)).

“The preliminary question under § 1404(a) is whether a civil action ‘might have been brought’ in the destination venue.” Volkswagen II, 545 F.3d at 312. If this requirement is met, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that “[t]he determination of ‘convenience’ turns on a number of public and private interest factors, none of which can be said to be of dispositive weight.” Action Indus., Inc. v. U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co., 358 F.3d 337, 340 (5th Cir.2004). The private factors 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 AG, 371 F.3d 201, 203 (5th Cir.2004)(hereinafter “Volkswagen I”)(citing to Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 241 n. 6, 102 S.Ct. 252, 70 L.Ed.2d 419 (1982)). The public 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 of the application of foreign law.” Id.

A plaintiffs choice of venue is not an independent factor in the venue transfer analysis, and courts must not give inordinate weight to a plaintiffs choice of venue. Volkswagen II, 545 F.3d at 314 n. 10, 315 (“[Wjhile a plaintiff has the privilege of filing his claims in any judicial division appropriate under the general venue statute, § 1404(a) tempers the effects of the exercise of this privilege.”). However, “when the transferee venue is not clearly more convenient than the venue chosen by [821]*821the plaintiff, the plaintiffs choice should be respected.” Id. at 315.

DISCUSSION

As a preliminary matter, the instant action “might have been brought” in the destination venue. Defendant seeks to transfer this case to the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. All agree that this action could have been filed originally in that district and division. (Mot. at 2-3; Opp. at 2 n.

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Bluebook (online)
919 F. Supp. 2d 817, 2013 WL 323222, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11368, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mateos-v-select-energy-services-llc-txwd-2013.