Opinion
24-CV-4770 (LTS)
10-03-2024
JERMAINE JEVON HOWARD, Plaintiff, v. SEAN COMBS, “P-DIDDY, PUFF”; BAD BOY RECORDS; BAD BOY ENTERTAINMENT; ARISTA RECORDS, Defendants.
TRANSFER ORDER
LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff, a resident of Buffalo, New York, brings this pro se action under the Court's diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. Named as Defendants are Sean Combs, Bad Boy Records, Bad Boy Entertainment, and Arista Records. For the following reasons, the Court transfers this action under 28 U.S.C. § 1406 to the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.
DISCUSSION
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), a civil action may be brought in
(1) a judicial district in which any defendant resides, if all defendants are residents of the State in which the district is located; (2) a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is the subject of the action is situated; or (3) if there is no district in which an action may otherwise be brought as provided in this section, any judicial district in which any defendant is subject to the court's personal jurisdiction with respect to such action.
Under Section 1391(c), a “natural person” resides in the district where the person is domiciled, and an “entity with the capacity to sue and be sued” resides in any judicial district where it is subject to personal jurisdiction with respect to the civil action in question. See 28 U.S.C. § 1391(c)(1), (2).
Plaintiff alleges that in 1998, he was attacked in a recording studio in Buffalo, New York, and that Defendants subsequently violated his intellectual property rights. Plaintiff provides California addresses for Sean Combs and Arista Records. He does not plead the residences of Bad Boy Records or Bad Boy Entertainment. Because Plaintiff does not plead that any Defendant resides in this district, or that the alleged events occurred in this district, venue is not proper in this Court under Section 1391(b)(1), (2).
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406, if a plaintiff files a case in the wrong venue, the Court “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.” 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). Plaintiff's claims arose in Buffalo, in Erie County, New York, which is in the Western District of New York. See 28 U.S.C. § 112. Accordingly, venue lies in the Western District of New York, 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2), and in the interest of justice, the Court transfers this action to the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, 28 U.S.C. § 1406.
CONCLUSION
The Clerk of Court is directed to transfer this action to the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. Whether Plaintiff should be permitted to proceed further without prepayment of fees is a determination to be made by the transferee court. A summons shall not issue from this Court. This order closes the case in this court.
The Court certifies, pursuant to 28 U.S.C § 1915(a)(3), that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith, and therefore in forma pauperis status is denied for the purpose of an appeal. See Coppedge v. United States, 369 U.S. 438, 444-45 (1962).
SO ORDERED.