RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, District Judge.
Plaintiff Reginald Daniels brings this action against Robert Wilkie, in his official capacity as Acting Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs ("VA"), alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"); the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"); the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA"); the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 ("VEVRAA"); the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 ("WPA"); the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"); defamation; and the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Defendant has moved to dismiss this case for improper venue pursuant to Rule 12(b)(3) or, alternatively, to transfer the case to the Eastern District of Virginia or the Central District of Illinois. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies Defendant's motion to dismiss, but grants its motion to transfer the case to the Central District of Illinois.
Plaintiff Reginald Daniels is an African-American veteran with multiple psychological diagnoses. See Compl. ¶ 1, ECF No. 1. After serving as a U.S. Navy chaplain for approximately eighteen years, Mr. Daniels was hired as a chaplain by Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System ("VA-IHCS") in Danville, Illinois. See id. ¶ 1.
Mr. Daniels suffers from Borderline Asperger Syndrome, a developmental disorder that limits his ability to effectively socialize and communicate. See id. ¶ 2. Due to this disorder, during his time as a chaplain, Mr. Daniels often offended people by involuntarily using unfiltered words and phrases, such as "seductive," "extra-marital affairs," "sensual," "whorehouse," "brothel," and "wet T-shirt." Id. at 11-12. Mr. Daniels's supervisor advised him not to use profanity when talking with other staff members, and especially with female staff members. Id. at 11.
Mr. Daniels alleges that during his employment Defendant failed to provide him with reasonable accommodations for his "abnormal" mode of communication. See id. at 4, 6. He explains that Defendant had a "moral and legal" obligation to place him on a Performance Improvement Plan or refer him to a Veterans' Employment and Training Service Program before firing him, so that he could properly assimilate into the civilian work environment. Id. at 7. Instead, Defendant admonished and forbade Mr. Daniels from using profane language, and later fired him. See id. at 12.
A few days before receiving his letter of termination from the VA, Mr. Daniels contacted the Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") Office in Danville, Illinois, and complained that he was experiencing discrimination and a hostile work-environment. See id. ¶¶ 8-9. Mr. Daniels also informed his supervisor about inappropriate sexual relationships taking place in the workplace. See id. at 12. The VA initiated no further investigation into the matter in response to Mr. Daniels's "whistle blowing statement[s]," and soon thereafter fired him. Id. at 13.
In Mr. Daniels's termination packet, the VA explained that Mr. Daniels had been exhibiting "profane language," "disruptive behavior," and "[n]egative or threatening body language." Id. at 10. At the time of his termination, Mr. Daniels was also being investigated for claims of sexual harassment. Id. ¶ 9.
After being fired, Mr. Daniels filed an EEO complaint regarding his termination to Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Resolution Management ("VA-ORM") in Hines, Illinois. See id. ¶ 14. Seventeen months after filing his initial complaint, Mr. Daniels had still not received a final decision from VA-ORM. See id. ¶ 18. Therefore, he filed a claim of his dissatisfaction with the delayed proceedings to VA-ORM's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management in Washington, D.C. See id. ¶¶ 18-19. Two months after filing the claim of dissatisfaction, Mr. Daniels received an unfavorable final agency decision from VA-ORM. Id. ¶¶ 19, 22. Mr. Daniels then brought suit in this court for the alleged wrongful termination of his employment at VA-IHCS and for VA-ORM's deficient investigation. See id. ¶¶ 21-22. Mr. Daniels currently resides in Richmond, Virginia. See id. at 1. Defendant has moved to dismiss or, in the alternative, to transfer, claiming that venue in this district is improper. See Def.'s Mot. Dismiss or Alt. Transfer ("Def.'s Mot.") at 1, ECF No. 9.
When "considering a Rule 12(b)(3) motion [to dismiss for improper venue], the court accepts the plaintiff's well-pled factual allegations regarding venue as true, draws all reasonable inferences from those allegations in the plaintiff's favor, and resolves any factual conflicts in the plaintiff's favor. The court, however, need not accept the plaintiff's legal conclusions as true." Darby, 231 F. Supp. 2d at 276-77 (citation omitted).
The party objecting to venue must present sufficient facts to put the plaintiff on notice that there is a defect in venue. See McCain v. Bank of Am., 13 F.Supp.3d 45, 51 (D.D.C. 2014), aff'd 602 Fed. App'x 836 (D.C. Cir. 2015). "Nevertheless, the burden remains on the plaintiff to establish that venue is proper since it is the plaintiff's obligation to institute the action in a permissible forum." Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). "The court may resolve the motion on the basis of the complaint alone, or, as necessary, examine facts outside the complaint that are presented by the parties, while drawing reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff." Id. (citation omitted). "Unless there are pertinent factual disputes to resolve, a challenge to venue presents a pure question of law." Williams v. GEICO Corp., 792 F.Supp.2d 58, 62 (D.D.C. 2011). "If a plaintiff brings suit in a district that does not satisfy the venue requirements . . ., venue is improper and [the] court must dismiss the case, or if it is in the interest of justice, transfer the case to a proper venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a)." Vasser v. McDonald, 72 F.Supp.3d 269, 277 (D.D.C. 2014).
Defendant moves to dismiss Mr. Daniels's complaint for improper venue or, alternatively, to transfer the case to the Eastern District of Virginia or the Central District of Illinois. In response, Mr. Daniels asks Defendant to waive venue so that the case can continue in this district. See Pl.'s Opp'n at 2, ECF No. 11. Defendant has declined to waive venue, and instead urges the Court to analyze venue according to the relevant statutes. See Def.'s Reply at 2-4, ECF No. 12. For the reasons set forth below, this Court finds that venue for several of Mr. Daniels's claims is improper in the District of Columbia under the applicable venue statutes, but concludes that the interest of justice counsels that the matter be transferred rather than dismissed. Accordingly, the Court grants Defendant's motion to transfer venue and transfers this case to the Central District of Illinois.
Three venue statutes apply to Mr. Daniels's claims. First, venue for his Title VII, ADA, and Rehabilitation Act claims is governed by Title VII's venue provision, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3). See Williams, 792 F. Supp. 2d at 62 ("The Rehabilitation Act and [ADA] adopt the special venue provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."); see also Martinez v. Bloomberg LP, 740 F.3d 211, 228 (2d Cir. 2014) ("[T]he ADA incorporates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act's special venue provision, which grants plaintiffs a range of possible venues in which to bring discrimination claims."); Bolar v. Frank, 938 F.2d 377, 378-79 (2d Cir. 1991) (per curiam) (holding that 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3) governs venue for claims brought under the Rehabilitation Act). Second, venue for Mr. Daniels's Federal Torts Claims Act ("FTCA") claim (defamation) is governed by the FTCA's own venue provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1402(b).
In Title VII, ADA, and Rehabilitation Act cases, Congress has limited venue to those jurisdictions actually concerned with the alleged discrimination. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3); see also Stebbins v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins., 413 F.2d 1100, 1102 (D.C. Cir. 1969). As such, the Title VII venue provision, which as explained above also applies to claims under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, specifies that a plaintiff may only bring suit in one of the following districts: (1) "any judicial district in the State in which the unlawful employment practice is alleged to have been committed," (2) "the judicial district in which the employment records relevant to such practice are maintained and administered," or (3) "the judicial district in which the aggrieved person would have worked but for the alleged unlawful employment practice." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3). The statute further specifies that "if the respondent is not found within any such district, such an action may be brought within the judicial district in which the respondent has his principal office." Id.
The Court finds that venue in this case is not proper in the District of Columbia under the Title VII venue provision, but rather is proper in the Central District of Illinois. In his complaint, Mr. Daniels describes numerous adverse employment actions that form the basis of this suit but does not allege that any of these actions took place in the District of Columbia. See generally Compl. The complaint alleges that Mr. Daniels was terminated in Danville, Illinois by a supervisor employed in Danville, Illinois. See id. ¶¶ 1, 5. A few days before he was terminated, Mr. Daniels made "whistle blowing statements" to an EEO office located in Danville, Illinois, and alleges that the VA fired him in retaliation. See id. ¶¶ 9, 13. Because it is undisputed that the allegedly unlawful decisions and actions did not occur in the District of Columbia but rather in Illinois, Mr. Daniels cannot properly lay venue in the District of Columbia under the first prong of the Title VII venue provision. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3).
Moreover, Mr. Daniels does not assert that any of his relevant employment records are kept in the District of Columbia, nor does he assert that he would have worked in the District of Columbia but for the alleged discrimination. See generally Compl. Therefore, he cannot properly lay venue in the District of Columbia under the second or third prong of the Title VII venue provision. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3).
The final prong of the Title VII venue provision provides that a plaintiff may bring his Title VII action in the district where the defendant has its principal place of business, but only if the defendant cannot be found in any other districts where venue is proper. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3); Booz-Allen, 227 F. Supp. 2d at 24. As explained above, Plaintiff could have properly filed this case in the Central District of Illinois, the locus of the alleged discrimination. As such, the court does not need to consider the fourth prong of Title VII venue statute in this case, and instead finds that venue for Mr. Daniels's Title VII, ADA, and Rehabilitation Act claims is improper in this district.
As explained above, the Court agrees with Defendant that the FTCA venue provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1402(b), governs Mr. Daniels's defamation claim. The FTCA provides that "[a]ny civil action on a tort claim against the United States . . . may be prosecuted only in the judicial district where the plaintiff resides or wherein the act or omission complained of occurred." 28 U.S.C. § 1402(b). "Under the FTCA, `venue is proper in the District of Columbia if sufficient activities giving rise to the plaintiff's cause of action took place here.'" Sanchez ex rel. Rivera-Sanchez v. United States, 600 F.Supp.2d 19, 23 (D.D.C. 2009) (citing Franz v. United States, 591 F.Supp. 374, 378 (D.D.C. 1984)).
Mr. Daniels currently resides in Richmond, VA, not the District of Columbia. See Compl. at 1. Additionally, it is clear from the face of Mr. Daniels's complaint that the allegedly unlawful decisions and actions that Mr. Daniels challenges did not occur in the District of Columbia, but rather in Illinois. Therefore, under 28 U.S.C. § 1402(b), Mr. Daniels's defamation claim is not properly venued in the District of Columbia, but rather in the Eastern District of Virginia or the Central District of Illinois.
Mr. Daniels argues that he has satisfied the requirements of the federal courts' general venue provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1391, for all counts, Pl.'s Opp'n ¶ 4, and that the VA has conceded that he has met its requirements for his ADEA claim. Def.'s Mot. at 7. The Court agrees with the parties that Mr. Daniels may establish venue in the District of Columbia under the general venue provision for his ADEA claim. Additionally, because claims under VEVRAA, WPA, HIPAA and the U.S. Constitution do not have specific venue provisions, the general venue statute governs venue for Mr. Daniels's remaining claims as well. Those claims are also properly venued here.
In relevant part, 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e) provides that "[a] civil action in which a defendant is an officer or employee of the United States or any agency thereof acting in his official capacity or under color of legal authority, or an agency of the United States, or the United States, may, except as otherwise provided by law, be brought in any judicial district in which (A) a defendant in the action resides, (B) 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 (C) the plaintiff resides if no real property is involved in the action." 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e); see also Hill v. Napolitano, 839 F.Supp.2d 180, 182-183 (D.D.C. 2012).
"Officers and agencies of the United States can have more than one residence, and venue thus can properly exist in more than one district. When an officer or agency head performs a `significant amount' of his or her official duties in the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia is a proper district for venue." Vasser, 72 F. Supp. 3d at 280 (citing Jyachosky v. Winter, No. 04-cv-1733, 2006 WL 1805607, at *4 (D.D.C. June 29, 2006)). Here, Defendant has been sued in his official capacity as Acting Secretary of the VA, which is headquartered in the District of Columbia. Thus, Defendant performs a significant portion of his official duties in the District of Columbia. The Court therefore concludes that under § 1391(e), venue is proper in the District of Columbia for Mr. Daniels's ADEA claim, as well as his VEVRAA, WPA, HIPAA and constitutional claims.
"The traditional rule regarding venue is that venue must be appropriate for each claim." Bartel v. Fed. Aviation Admin., 617 F.Supp. 190, 197 (D.D.C. 1985) (citation omitted). However, "this Circuit has adopted the principle of pendent venue which provides that proper venue as to one claim will support adjudication of any other claim as long as the claims amount to a single cause of action." Archuleta v. Sullivan, 725 F.Supp. 602, 605-06 (D.D.C. 1989) (citing Beattie v. United States, 756 F.2d 91, 100-01 (D.C. Cir. 1984)). Because venue for some of Mr. Daniels's claims are proper in the District of Columbia, the Court must determine whether it can exercise pendent jurisdiction over any of the claims which are not properly venued here because they, along with claims that are properly venued here, amount to a "single cause of action."
Just as in Archuleta, the claims that are properly venued here (the ADEA, VEVRAA, WPA, HIPAA, and constitutional claims) cannot be characterized as single causes of action with any of the claims that are not properly venued here (the Title VII, ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and defamation claims) because "each claim alleges discriminatory conduct against a different protected class" or alleges some other distinct form of wrongful conduct. Archuleta, 725 F. Supp. at 606. The properly venued counts involve claims of discrimination based on age and Vietnam War veteran status, as well as claims of unlawful treatment involving retaliation for whistleblowing activity and First Amendment protected speech, invasion of privacy, and insufficient due process, while the claims that are not properly venued include claims of discrimination based on race, religion, and disability, as well as a claim of defamation. None of the improperly venued claims are sufficiently similar to the properly venued claims to be considered part of a single cause of action. The Court is also informed in its analysis by the obvious conclusion that most of these claims, as explained above, will not survive dismissal on jurisdictional grounds. Therefore, the Court will not exercise pendent venue over any of the improperly venued claims.
As explained above, Mr. Daniels has failed to establish proper venue in this district for his Title VII, Rehabilitation Act, ADA, and defamation claims. When a court determines that venue is improper, a court must "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); see Booz-Allen, 227 F. Supp. 2d at 24-25 (citing Washington v. Gen. Elec. Corp., 686 F.Supp. 361, 364 (D.D.C. 1988)). "Whether transferring this case is in the interest of justice rests within the sound discretion of the court," id., but "the interest of justice generally requires transferring a case to the appropriate judicial district in lieu of dismissal." Ellis-Smith v. Sec'y of Army, 793 F.Supp.2d 173, 177 (D.D.C. 2011).
Here, the Court concludes that the interest of justice will be served by transferring the improperly venued claims to the Central District of Illinois, rather than dismissing them. Having decided to transfer Mr. Daniels's Title VII, Rehabilitation Act, ADA, and defamation claims to a proper venue, the Court is left to decide whether to transfer his remaining claims to the Central District of Illinois as well.
A court may transfer any civil action to any district where the case might have been brought for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. See 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Section 1404(a) "vests `discretion in the district court to adjudicate motions to transfer according to an individualized, case-by-case consideration of convenience and fairness.'" Reiffin v. Microsoft Corp., 104 F.Supp.2d 48, 50 (D.D.C. 2000) (citing Stewart Org. v. Ricoh Corp., 487 U.S. 22, 27 (1988)). The burden is on the moving party to establish that transfer under Section 1404(a) is proper. See Montgomery v. STG Int'l, Inc., 532 F.Supp.2d 29, 32 (D.D.C. 2008). In determining whether transfer under Section 1404(a) is appropriate, the Court considers the private interest of the parties and public interest of the courts. See Air Line Pilots Ass'n v. E. Air Lines, 672 F.Supp. 525, 526 (D.D.C. 1987) (collecting cases).
A full transfer is appropriate here because "the majority of the acts giving rise to the claims occurred outside of th[is] District," in the Central District of Illinois. Blackhawk Consulting, LLC v. Fed. Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n, 975 F.Supp.2d 57, 61 (D.D.C. 2013). Additionally, the public interest would be served by keeping all of Mr. Daniels's claims, which arise out of the same series of events, together. To rule otherwise would result in needlessly duplicative proceedings. See Gardner v. Mabus, 49 F.Supp.3d 44, 47-48 (D.D.C. 2014) ("It is in the interest of justice to transfer the entire complaint rather than have it heard in two different venues." (quoting In Re O'Leska, No. 00-5339, 2000 WL 1946653, at *1 (D.C. Cir. 2000)). Mr. Daniels's choice of forum is given little deference because he does not reside in the District of Columbia and because the District has little factual nexus to his case. See Blackhawk Consulting, 975 F. Supp. 2d at 61. For these reasons, the Court transfers all of Mr. Daniels's claims to the Central District of Illinois.
For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is
