Shively v. PetSmart, Inc.

983 F. Supp. 2d 474, 2013 WL 5707862, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150750
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedOctober 21, 2013
DocketCiv. No. 13-495-SLR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 983 F. Supp. 2d 474 (Shively v. PetSmart, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shively v. PetSmart, Inc., 983 F. Supp. 2d 474, 2013 WL 5707862, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150750 (D. Del. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROBINSON, District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

On March 28, 2013, plaintiff Kathleen Ann Shively (“Shively”) filed a complaint against defendant PetSmart, Inc. (“PetS-mart”) alleging that PetSmart, acting by and through, among others, Jodi Ryall (“Ryall”) unlawfully retaliated against her for joining and asserting a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claim for overtime wages and other damages in the McKee v. PetSmart, Inc.1 matter before this court. (D.I. 4) Shively also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin PetSmart and its employees from engaging in any further act of retaliation against her. (D.I. 1) The motion was withdrawn on May 15, 2013. (D.I. 25) Presently before the court is PetSmart’s motion to transfer this action to the District of South Carolina. (D.I. 18) The court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1337 and 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). For the reasons that follow, PetSmart’s motion to transfer is denied.

[476]*476II. BACKGROUND

Shively is a resident of Duncan, South Carolina. (D.I. 4 at ¶ 7) Shively has worked for PetSmart from in or about July 2002 until the present at PetSmart’s stores located in Greenville, Spartanburg, and Taylors, South Carolina. (Id. at ¶ 8)

PetSmart is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business located at 19601 N. 27th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85027. (Id. at ¶ 9) PetSmart operates a chain of 1,232 stores in 48 states throughout the country, with net sales of over $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2012. (Id.) PetSmart does business in Delaware, including at its retail locations throughout the State of Delaware. (Id. at ¶ 10) Ryall is a store manager at the PetSmart location where Shively is currently assigned, and supervises and directs Shively in her present work for PetSmart. (Id. at ¶ 17)

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Section 1404(a) of Title 28 of the United States Code grants district courts the authority to transfer venue “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interests of justice ... to any other district or division where it might have been brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Much has been written about the legal standard for motions to transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). See, e.g., In re Link-A-Media Devices Corp., 662 F.3d 1221 (Fed.Cir. 2011); Jumara v. State Farm Ins. Co., 55 F.3d 873 (3d Cir.1995); Helicos Biosciences Corp. v. Illumina, Inc., 858 F.Supp.2d 367 (D.Del.2012).

Referring specifically to the analytical framework described in Helicos, the court starts with the premise that a defendant’s state of incorporation has always been “a predictable, legitimate venue for bringing suit” and that “a plaintiff, as the injured party, generally ha[s] been ‘accorded [the] privilege of bringing an action where he chooses.’ ” 858 F.Supp.2d at 371 (quoting Norwood v. Kirkpatrick, 349 U.S. 29, 31, 75 S.Ct. 544, 99 L.Ed. 789 (1955)). Indeed, the Third Circuit in Jumara reminds the reader that “[t]he burden of establishing the need for transfer ... rests with the movant” and that, “in ruling on defendants’ motion, the plaintiffs choice of venue should not be lightly disturbed.” 55 F.3d at 879 (citation omitted).

The Third Circuit goes on to recognize that,

[i]n ruling on § 1404(a) motions, courts have not limited their consideration to the three enumerated factors in § 1404(a) (convenience of parties, convenience of witnesses, or interests of justice), and, indeed, commentators have called on the courts to “consider all relevant factors to determine whether on balance the litigation would more conveniently proceed and the interests of justice be better served by transfer to a different forum.

Id.(citation omitted). The Court then describes some of the “many variants of the private and public interests protected by the language of § 1404(a).” Id.

The private interests have included: plaintiffs forum of preference as manifested in the original choice; the defendant’s preference; whether the claim arose elsewhere; the convenience of the parties as indicated by their relative physical and financial condition; the convenience of the witnesses — but only to the extent that the witnesses may actually be unavailable for trial in one of the fora; and the location of books and records (similarly limited to the extent that the files could not be produced in the alternative forum).
The public interests have included: the enforceability of the judgment; practical considerations that could make the trial [477]*477easy, expeditious, or inexpensive; the relative administrative difficulty in the two fora resulting from court congestion; the local interest in deciding local controversies at home; the public policies of the fora; and the familiarity of the trial judge with the applicable state law in diversity cases.

/(¿.(citations omitted) (emphasis added).

IV. ANALYSIS

With the above “jurisdictional guideposts” in mind, the court turns to the “difficult issue of federal comity” that transfer motions present. E.E.O.C. v. Univ. of Pa., 850 F.2d 969, 976 (3d Cir. 1988). Shively has not challenged PetS-mart’s assertion that venue would also be proper in the District of South Carolina; therefore, the court will not address this further. See 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a); (D.I. 19 at 4-5)

The parties have both chosen legitimate forums in which to pursue the instant litigation. In this regard, certainly a party’s state of incorporation is a traditional and legitimate venue, as is the locus of a party’s business activities. Given that “convenience” is separately considered in the transfer analysis, the court declines to elevate a defendant’s choice of venue over that of a plaintiff based on defendant’s convenience. Therefore, the fact that plaintiffs have historically been accorded the privilege of choosing their preferred venue for pursuing their claims remains a significant factor.

With respect to where the claim arose, PetSmart argues that the events underlying Shively’s claims occurred at the PetS-mart in which Shively is employed located in the District of South Carolina. (D.I. 19 at 7) Shively, however, contends that her present retaliation claim arose from her participation in the McKee

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983 F. Supp. 2d 474, 2013 WL 5707862, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shively-v-petsmart-inc-ded-2013.