Nance v. Ryder Integrated Logistics, Inc. ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 TIFFENY NANCE, Case No. 23-cv-03345-JD 8 Plaintiff, ORDER RE TRANSFER v. 9 10 RYDER INTEGRATED LOGISTICS, INC., et al., 11 Defendants. 12 13 Plaintiff Tiffeny Nance alleges labor law violations against her employer, defendants 14 Ryder Integrated Logistics, Inc. and Ryder System, Inc. (Ryder), under California’s Private 15 Attorneys’ General Act (PAGA). Dkt. No. 1 at 2. She previously filed a putative class action 16 based on the same conduct in the Eastern District of California. Ryder has filed a motion to 17 transfer venue to the Eastern District under 28 United States Code section 1404(a), and the first-to- 18 file rule, Dkt. No. 13, which Nance opposes in favor of a remand to state court, Dkt. Nos. 16, 15. 19 Transfer is ordered to the Eastern District of California. There is no dispute that all of the 20 events giving rise to the complaint took place in the Eastern District, and that witnesses, 21 documents, and other evidence are primarily located there. Nance agrees that venue is proper 22 there. Dkt. No. 16 at 2 (“Should the Court ultimately determine that it has jurisdiction, and that 23 remand is not appropriate, Plaintiff does not object to transfer.”). 24 Nance’s objection that a transfer is not appropriate because the Court is said to lack subject 25 matter jurisdiction is not well taken. “[V]enue may be addressed first, particularly when, as here, 26 the Court cannot ‘readily determine that it lacks jurisdiction over the cause.’” Jimenez v. Horizon 27 Actuarial Servs., LLC, No. 3:22-CV-04550-JD, 2023 WL 309049, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 18, 2023) 1 federal court already presiding over plaintiff's non-PAGA claims is best positioned to determine 2 || whether the PAGA action belongs in federal court. 3 The case management conference set for October 19, 2023, is vacated. 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 Dated: October 16, 2023 6 7 JAMES A#PONATO 8 United Ptates District Judge 9 10 11 a 12 13 © 15 16 it Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28