Opinion
2:23-cv-01528-DAD-JDP
10-16-2023
BELINDA TURNER, Plaintiff, v. YOUNG ADULT INSTITUTE, INC., Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING JOINT STIPULATION TO TRANSFER VENUE TO THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (DOC. NO. 8)
DALE A. DROZD UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
On September 18, 2023, the parties filed a joint stipulation requesting that this action be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California because an earlier filed related case, Joana Rios Lagunas, et al., v. Young Adult Institute, Inc., No. 23-cv-00654-RS (N.D. Cal.) (“Lagunas Action”) remains pending in the Northern District and “efficiency and judicial economy would be enhanced by having a single judge hear both actions.” (Doc. No. 8.)
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), “[t]he district court of a district in which is filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.” According to the stipulation, the parties agree that transferring this action to the Northern District of California is in the interests of justice. (Doc. No. 8.) Notably, both the Lagunas Action and this action are putative class actions with nearly identical allegations, and there would be significant overlap in any class certified by the court. (See Notice of Related Cases, Lagunas Action, Doc. No. 23.) Pursuant to the parties' stipulated request to transfer this action, and for the sake of judicial economy and efficiency, and in the interest of justice, the court will transfer this action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Accordingly, 1. The parties' stipulated request to transfer this action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (Doc. No. 8) is granted;
2. The court hereby transfers this action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California;
3. The court further orders the Clerk of the Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento, to forward all filings in this action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California; and
4. The Clerk of the Court for the Eastern District of California shall close this case upon completion of the transfer.
IT IS SO ORDERED.