STS Refills, LLC v. Rivers Printing Solutions, Inc.

896 F. Supp. 2d 364, 2012 WL 4051282, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130524
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 13, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 3:10-CV-43
StatusPublished

This text of 896 F. Supp. 2d 364 (STS Refills, LLC v. Rivers Printing Solutions, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
STS Refills, LLC v. Rivers Printing Solutions, Inc., 896 F. Supp. 2d 364, 2012 WL 4051282, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130524 (W.D. Pa. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER OF COURT

GIBSON, District Judge.

I. SYNOPSIS

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff STS Refills, LLC’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 20) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. Plaintiff asks this Court for an order compelling Rivers Printing Solutions, Inc., Thomas E. Rivers, and Cathy Rivers to arbitrate disputes related to the alleged breach of two agreements, allegedly between STS Refills, Inc., Rivers Printing Solutions, Inc., Thomas E. Rivers, and Cathy Rivers. (Doc. No. 20 at 2; Doc. No. 1 at 1.) For the reasons that follow, Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.

[367]*367II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1).1 Venue is proper in this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(a)(2) because a substantial part of the events giving rise to this action occurred in this district. However, in light of Plaintiffs assertion that venue is proper pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 4 and the terms of the agreements (see Doc. No. 1 at 3) and Defendants’ assertions that venue is improper in this district (see Doc. No. 7; Doc. No. 18 at 1-2), the Court finds that the issue of venue merits a brief discussion.

Plaintiff states in its complaint that venue in this Court is appropriate pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 4. (See Doc. No. 1 at 3.) Section 4 of the Federal Arbitration Act (hereinafter the “FAA”), codified at 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., has indeed been interpreted to contain a venue provision.2 See, e.g., Econo-Car Int’l, Inc. v. Antilles Car Rentals, Inc., 499 F.2d 1391, 1394 (3d Cir.1974); Image Software, Inc. v. Reynolds & Reynolds Co., 459 F.3d 1044, 1052-52 (10th Cir.2006) (citing Econo-Car Int’l, 499 F.2d at 1394); Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Lauer, 49 F.3d 323, 327 (7th Cir.1995); Argonaut Ins. Co. v. Century Indem. Co., No. 05-5355, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60765, at *8-9 (E.D.Pa. Aug. 5, 2006). While some Courts have suggested that section 4 might be a restrictive venue provision that controls over general venue statutes, see Image Software, Inc., 459 F.3d at 1054, courts in this Circuit have not, see, e.g., Econo-Car Int’l, 499 F.2d at. 1394 (noting that, because a district court may not order arbitration outside its district pursuant to the text of 9 U.S.C. § 4, a restrictive reading section 4’s language permitting a party to request an order “directing that ... arbitration proceed in the manner provided for in [the arbitration] agreement” might prevent a district court from ordering arbitration even where venue is otherwise proper); Jumara v. State Farm Ins. Co., 55 F.3d 873, 877-79 (3d Cir.1995); Argonaut Ins. Co., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60765, at *8-9 (relying on the United States Supreme [368]*368Court’s opinion in Cortez Byrd Chips, Inc. v. Bill Harbert Constr. Co., 529 U.S. 193, 120 S.Ct. 1331, 146 L.Ed.2d 171 (2000) in holding that section 4 of the FAA does not foreclose the general venue statute of 28 U.S.C. § 1391). Indeed, in Jumara v. State Farm Ins. Co., 55 F.3d 873, 877-79 (3d Cir.1995), the Third Circuit’s decision to transfer a matter under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) demonstrated that a valid forum selection clause in an arbitration agreement selecting a location in a particular district as the forum for arbitration does not foreclose the possibility that venue will be proper in another judicial district. There, Plaintiffs brought an action in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania seeking to compel arbitration pursuant to an agreement that selected a county in the Middle District of Pennsylvania as the forum for arbitration. Id. at 875, 881. After concluding that transfer to the Middle District was the appropriate course of action, the Court inquired into the proper statutory basis for transfer. Id. at 877-79. The Court held that the action should be transferred pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which permits a district court to transfer a civil action from one proper venue to another proper venue, rather than 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), which permits a district court to transfer a civil action that has been brought in an improper forum to a forum where venue is proper. Jumara, 55 F.3d at 877-79. The Court so held because, notwithstanding the forum selection clause selecting the Middle District as the forum for arbitration, venue was also proper in the Eastern District under 28 U.S.C. § 1391. Id. at 878-79. See also Lester v. Gene Express, Inc., No. 09-0403, 2009 WL 3757155, at *4, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105029, at *12-13 (D.N.J. Nov. 10, 2009) (same). Thus, notwithstanding the forum selection clauses in the Agreements at issue in this case,3 venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(a)(2) because Plaintiff is a Pennsylvania Limited Liability Company with its principal place of business in this district (see Doc. No. 1 at 3; Doc. No. 18 at 1) and a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to this claim occurred in this district.

III. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On February 10, 2010, STS Refills, LLC, (hereinafter “STS”), a franchisor of master franchisor Cartridge World North America, LLC (hereinafter “Cartridge World”), brought suit in this Court to compel Defendants, Rivers Printing Solutions, Inc. (hereinafter “Rivers Printing”), Thomas E. Rivers, and Cathy Rivers, franchisees, to arbitrate disputes stemming from two contractual franchise agreements. (Doc. No.

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Bluebook (online)
896 F. Supp. 2d 364, 2012 WL 4051282, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sts-refills-llc-v-rivers-printing-solutions-inc-pawd-2012.