MARCO A. HERNÁNDEZ, District Judge.
Plaintiff, Sherry F. Robertson, seeks legal and equitable damages from Defendant, Standard Insurance Company, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Defendant submitted a motion to change or transfer venue (Motion to Transfer) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), requesting that this matter be transferred to either the Southern District of West Virginia or the Middle District of North Carolina. For the following reasons, this Court denies Defendant's Motion to Transfer.
Plaintiff worked as a cytogenetic technologist for Wake Forest University Health Sciences (Wake Forest) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for over 26 years. As a benefit of her employment, Plaintiff obtained long-term disability (LTD) insurance coverage and life insurance. Plaintiff's LTD insurance and life insurance policies are, and were, underwritten, issued, and administered by Defendant. Compl. ¶ 7. Defendant does business within the state of Oregon as an insurer and its corporate offices are located in Oregon.
On March 7, 2012, Plaintiff ceased working for Wake Forest due to disability.
In response, Plaintiff filed a complaint in the Western District of Kentucky, where her counsel resides. Defendant moved to dismiss for improper venue and Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her complaint. On October 10, 2014, Plaintiff filed this case in the District of Oregon. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant breached its duty to Plaintiff under ERISA.
Now before this Court is Defendant's Motion to Transfer pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Defendant requests that this case be transferred to the Southern District of West Virginia or the Middle District of North Carolina. Defendant argues that the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interest of justice favor transferring this case.
A motion to transfer venue is governed by 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which provides that "[f]or the convenience of the parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where the action might have been brought[.]" The purpose of the 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) is to "prevent the waste of time, energy and money and to protect litigants, witnesses, and the public against unnecessary inconvenience and expense."
A motion to transfer lies within the broad discretion of the district court, and must be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Courts employ a two-step analysis when determining whether transfer is proper. First, a court must ask "whether the transferee district was one in which the action might have been brought by the plaintiff."
This Court must first determine whether the case could have been brought in the forum to which the moving party seeks transfer. In this case, Plaintiff's Plan is administered in either Portland or North Carolina.
Several of the factors this Court would normally consider when analyzing a motion to transfer either have little relevance to this case or weigh equally in favor of both parties. First, as the law governing this case is federal, this Court presumes all federal courts have equal familiarity with the applicable law. Therefore, the familiarity of each forum with the applicable law does not factor into this Court's considerations. Second, in ERISA cases, "a district court may [generally] review only the administrative record when considering whether the plan administrator abused its discretion[.]"
This Court notes that Defendant spends much of its Motion to Transfer discussing the case's "center of gravity" and "locus of operative facts," concepts which are derived from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals' iteration of factors to be used in determining the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice.
Under ERISA, an action "may be brought in the district where the plan is administered, where the breach took place, or where a defendant resides or may be found[.]" 29 U.S.C. § 1132(e)(2). With this provision, "Congress intended to give ERISA plaintiffs an expansive range of venue locations."
Defendant does not dispute that venue is proper in this District. However, Defendant argues that while courts often give a plaintiff's choice of forum great weight, the weight given to this consideration is substantially diminished when the plaintiff resides outside of the forum or "where the plaintiff's chosen forum lacks any significant contact with the underlying cause of action."
Even so, Plaintiff contends that the District of Oregon also has significant contacts with the underlying cause of action. Specifically, Defendant is located in Oregon, Defendant executed Plaintiff's insurance policy in Oregon, Defendant allegedly administered Plaintiff's claims in Oregon, and factual evidence and potential witnesses are located in Oregon.
Defendant further argues that a plaintiff's choice of forum can be disregarded when "there is evidence of forum shopping."
Accordingly, this Court finds that deference is due to Plaintiff's choice of forum. This factor weighs in favor of this Court denying Defendant's Motion to Transfer venue.
First, this Court assumes that this forum is convenient for Plaintiff, given that Plaintiff chose to litigate here and has provided several legitimate reasons for why this forum is convenient. Second, in its Motion to Transfer, Defendant fails to set forth how litigating this matter in this District is inconvenient. Rather, Defendant notes that "[w]hile Standard's corporate headquarters is located in Oregon and the claim evaluation occurred in Oregon, the location of corporate headquarters is simply another factor to be weighed, and is not dispositive of the transfer analysis." Mot. to Transfer, 14. While the location of Defendant's corporate headquarters may not be dispositive, this Court fails to see how litigating in the home forum of its headquarters inconveniences Defendant. Third, Defendant evaluated Plaintiff's claim in Oregon and this case will be decided on the administrative record; therefore no party will be greatly inconvenienced by the need to produce or transport costly evidence. As such, this factor weighs in favor of denying Defendant's Motion to Transfer.
Defendant argues that West Virginia has an interest in ERISA claims impacting its residents. Defendant contends that North Carolina also has an interest in this claim because Plaintiff's employer and other Plan participants are located in North Carolina and have a substantial interest in the local resolution of disputes concerning Plan benefits. Furthermore, Defendant argues that allowing this Court to decide Plaintiff's case would subject the Plan to varying pronouncements in different jurisdictions "underm[ining] ERISA's goal of providing a low-cost administration of employee benefit plans."
This Court recognizes that West Virginia and North Carolina have a local interest in this case. However, the specific circumstances of Plaintiff's claim reduce the influence this finding has on this Court's consideration of whether to transfer venue. First, Oregon also has an interest in ERISA claims impacting companies who reside here, such as Defendant. Second, Plaintiff's dispute does not directly concern Plaintiff's past employer and Plan sponsor. Rather, the dispute involves Defendant's alleged breach of duty to Plaintiff under ERISA and Defendant's claim processes which are administrated by Defendant in Oregon. Compl. ¶ 33. This being so, this case is distinguishable from other ERISA cases in which the defendant's actions affected all plan holders, rather than a single plan member.
After considering the factors regarding the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice, this Court concludes that Defendant has not made a strong showing warranting a transfer of venue.
Based on the foregoing, I deny Defendant's motion to transfer venue [16].
IT IS SO ORDERED.