JAMES H. PAYNE, District Judge.
Before the Court Plaintiff's Motion for Remand of His Claim For Wrongful Termination Under 85 O.S. § 5 and Incorporated Memorandum of Law,
On August 25, 2011, Plaintiff filed the instant action in Tulsa County District Court asserting claims of (1) age discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), (2) age discrimination in violation of Oklahoma State title 25, §§ 1101, 1302, (3) discrimination based on disability in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), (4) discrimination based on disability in violation of Oklahoma State title 25, §§ 1101, 1901, (5) wrongful termination in violation of Oklahoma State title 85, § 5, and (6) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress.
At a status and scheduling conference on February 3, 2012, nearly five months after removal, Plaintiff first raised the issue that his claim for retaliatory discharge under Oklahoma State title 85, § 5 was not removable pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1445(c). The parties disagreed as to whether or not the inclusion of this claim defeated this Court's subject matter jurisdiction, thus requiring remand of the entire case.
The Court granted Plaintiff leave to file argument as to whether he should be permitted to file a motion for remand out of time. Plaintiff instead filed a Motion to Remand, which both parties briefed fully.
There is no question that Plaintiff's claim for retaliatory discharge under Oklahoma State title 85, § 5 is generally nonremovable pursuant to the statutory provision of 28 U.S.C. § 1445(c). Here the Court must answer whether § 1445(c) implicates the Court's subject matter jurisdiction, and is therefore subject to challenge at any time before final judgment, or whether the prohibition is procedural and thus subject to waiver based on the thirty day window for filing a motion to remand pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).
The Tenth Circuit, in Feichko v. Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Company, stated "that removal in violation of a statutory provision does not deprive a federal district court of subject matter jurisdiction so long as the court would have had original jurisdiction over the case had it been filed there in the first instance."
The prohibition contained in § 1445(c) at issue here is not functionally distinct from the one in 1445(a) addressed by the Feichko court. Therefore, if this Court would have had original subject matter jurisdiction over this matter at the time of filing, then removal in violation of 1445(c) does not deprive this Court of subject matter jurisdiction. Here, the Court would have had original jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 at the time of filing based on a number of Plaintiff's federal claims, therefore this Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the claim. Plaintiff's attempt to procedurally distinguish Feichko fails, as both the Feichko court and Defendant cite a large body of concurring precedent, all with different procedural postures, confirming the non-jurisdictional nature of § 1445.
As removal in violation of § 1445(c) does not deprive this Court of subject matter jurisdiction, Plaintiff's Motion for Remand must comport with the thirty-day timing requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).
The Court rejects Plaintiff's argument that this decision renders the nonremovability provisions of § 1445 meaningless. On the contrary, cases falling under the auspices of § 1445 remain subject to remand when objections are timely entered by the non-removing party. Further, as Plaintiff cites, the Congressional intent of § 1445 was to decrease the "already overburdened docket of the federal courts."
Because Plaintiff's Motion for Remand does not properly challenge this Court's subject matter jurisdiction, it is out of time pursuant to the timing provision of 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). Consequently, Plaintiff's Motion for Remand is