Summary
finding the FELA's prohibition on forum-selection agreements inapplicable to Jones Act suits
Summary of this case from Great Lakes Dredge Dock, Company v. LarrisquituOpinion
Case No. 2:06-cv-554.
March 12, 2007
OPINION AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's objections to Magistrate Judge King's Report and Recommendation issued on January 24, 2007, wherein she recommended that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss for Improper Venue, be granted. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), this Court has conducted a de novo review of the Report and Recommendation and concludes that Plaintiff's objections are without merit.
Plaintiff argues that the Magistrate Judge incorrectly interpreted Boyd v. Grand Trunk R.R. Co., 338 U.S. 263, 265 (1949), and that if Boyd were properly interpreted and applied, the venue selection provision at issue in this case is rendered unenforceable requiring denial of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss for Improper Venue. However, as Defendant correctly notes in its response to Plaintiff's objections, Magistrate Judge King concluded that Boyd is inapplicable to the case at bar. This Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge's conclusion and finds her analysis correct. Thus, for the reasons discussed in the Report and Recommendation, Plaintiff's objections, Doc. # 19, are OVERRULED. The Report and Recommendation, Doc. # 18, is hereby ADOPTED and AFFIRMED. Defendant's Motion to Dismiss for Improper Venue, Doc. # 5, is GRANTED.