Robinson v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.

8 F. Supp. 3d 335, 2014 WL 1599462, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57719
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedApril 23, 2014
DocketNo. 14 Civ. 922(BMC)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 8 F. Supp. 3d 335 (Robinson v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robinson v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 8 F. Supp. 3d 335, 2014 WL 1599462, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57719 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

COGAN, District Judge.

This is a slip-and-fall case brought against Amtrak (formally, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) in the Queens County Supreme Court. The incident occurred in Wilson, North Carolina. Amtrak removed the case to this Court, basing jurisdiction on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1349, in that more than one-half of its stock is owned by the United States, and thus the action is deemed to arise under federal law. See Hollus v. Amtrak Northeast Corridor, 937 F.Supp. 1110 (D.N.J. 1996), aff'd, 118 F.3d 1575 (3d Cir.1997) (table). Amtrak has moved to transfer the case to North Carolina pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).

It is unclear, and plaintiff has not explained it in opposing Amtrak’s motion, why plaintiff brought this action in the Queens County Supreme Court. She is a New Jersey resident, not a New Yorker, and the case has no connection to Queens County. Her state court complaint asserted venue under New York Civil Practice Rules § 503, but it is doubtful that Queens [336]*336County was a proper venue under that statute. It provides that venue may be based on a corporation’s residence, but the residence of a corporation is deemed to be that county within the state “in which its principal office is located.” Although Amtrak has some facilities in Long Island City, within Queens County, it is common knowledge that its principal office in New York state is at Pennsylvania Station in the Borough of Manhattan.

It is equally unclear, and, again, plaintiff has not explained it in opposing Amtrak’s motion, why she brought this case in New York state at all, since she does not live here and the accident did not happen here. Presumably, whatever basis she had for asserting personal jurisdiction over Amtrak in New York — and, although Amtrak has not raised it, it is not entirely clear that there is such a basis in light of Daimler AG v. Bauman, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 746, 187 L.Ed.2d 624 (2014) — there is an equally viable basis for personal jurisdiction in New Jersey, where Amtrak also maintains facilities and does quite a bit of business. See http://www.amtrak.com/ northeast-train-bus-stations (last visited 4/19/14). There seems no reason why plaintiff could not have brought this case in New Jersey, where it would be more convenient for her and no less convenient for Amtrak, on the same basis that she brought it here. Just as inexplicably, in opposing Amtrak’s transfer motion, she has not proposed as an alternative that, if this Court is inclined to transfer the case, it should be transferred to New Jersey, although this was discussed at the premotion conference. She appears content with insisting on her strange choice of a New York forum or, if the Court does not accept that, having the case transferred to North Carolina.

Of course, the case is properly venued in this district as an initial matter, even if it could not have been originally brought here, as Amtrak had no choice once it decided to remove but to remove the case to the federal district encompassing Queens County. See 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). And it remains Amtrak’s burden to show cause why the case should be transferred. See e.g., National Utility Serv., Inc. v. Queens Grp., Inc., 857 F.Supp. 237 (E.D.N.Y.1994). Nevertheless, Congress has recently confirmed that § 1404(a) is fully applicable to removed actions. See 28 U.S.C. § 1390(c).

The facts leave the case in a peculiar posture for purposes of determining a § 1404(a) motion. None of the cases the parties cite naming Amtrak are helpful, because they all involve, as one would expect, plaintiffs who sued either in their home forum, or where the accident occurred, or at least in Washington, D.C., where Amtrak has its principal offices. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that unlike the usual meticulous balancing of convenience factors that courts typically undertake under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), the absence of any reason at all for the case to be in this district is itself a weighty factor in favor of transferring the case to the loci delecti commissi The disconnection between this forum and the dispute, coupled with the occurrence of the accident in another district, at least satisfies Amtrak’s obligation to present a prima facie case for transfer.

Plaintiffs choice of forum is entitled to little deference, both because she did not choose this forum but more importantly because she is not a resident of the district or the state and has no relationship with either of them. “Where the forum is not the plaintiffs home district ... the plaintiffs choice of forum is given less deference. This is true even when the plaintiffs home district is adjacent to the forum.” Nabisco, Inc. v. Brack’s Confec[337]*337tions, Inc., No. 00-cv-5875, 2000 WL 1677985, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 8, 2000) (citing Hall v. South Orange, 89 F.Supp.2d 488, 494 (S.D.N.Y.2000). “The emphasis that a court places on plaintiffs choice of forum diminishes where ... the facts giving rise to the litigation bear little material connection to the chosen forum.” Pilot Corp. v. U.S. Robotics, Inc., No. 96-cv-5483, 1997 WL 47790, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 6, 1997), quoting, Fontana v. E.A.R., a Division of Cabot Corp., Inc., 849 F.Supp. 212, 215 (S.D.N.Y.1994) (internal quotations omitted)).

Plaintiffs other reasons for opposing transfer are skimpy. First, she contends that her hospital and its personnel are in Patterson, New Jersey, her treating physician works in Wayne, New Jersey and it is therefore easier for them to come to Brooklyn for deposition and/or trial than North Carolina. She gives no indication, certainly not an affidavit from her doctor or anyone at the hospital, that her medical professionals are willing to take the 1 hour trip to Brooklyn (in light traffic, which is not the norm), and while they are within the subpoena power of this Court, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(c), I would have to be hard pressed to make a physician take that trip when plaintiff has given no reason for the case to be here. If her New Jersey health care providers are willing to voluntarily travel to Brooklyn, plaintiff has given me no indication that their willingness stops at the extra 3$ or so hours it take to fly to North Carolina. It thus seems likely that maintaining this case in this district will require the use of recorded testimony taken in another district either for deposition or trial or both.

That is even more likely the case with regard to Amtrak’s witnesses. Plaintiff discloses she is aware of only one witness involved in the incident, who Amtrak says lives and works in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area. He was the conductor on the train and travels to North Carolina regularly. But Amtrak also identifies other train personnel as potential witnesses, at least as to train maintenance issues, all of whom live and work in either North Carolina, or the Washington, D.C. area, the latter currently traveling regularly to North Carolina as part of their jobs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
8 F. Supp. 3d 335, 2014 WL 1599462, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57719, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-national-railroad-passenger-corp-nyed-2014.