Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_15-cv-00189/USCOURTS-cand-4_15-cv-00189-3/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 791
Nature of Suit: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
Cause of Action: 28:1132 E.R.I.S.A.

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

STACEY SCHUETT,

Plaintiff,

v.

FEDEX CORPORATION 

RETIREMENT APPEALS 

COMMITTEE, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 15-cv-0189-PJH 

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 

TRANSFER AND VACATING 

HEARING

Before the court is defendants’ motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) to transfer 

the above-entitled action to the Western District of Tennessee for the convenience of 

parties and witnesses. Having read the parties’ papers and carefully considered their 

arguments and the relevant legal authority, the court hereby DENIES the motion.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Stacey Schuett, who resides in Sebastopol, California, was married to 

Lesly Taboada-Hall (“Taboada-Hall”), on June 19, 2013, in Sonoma County, California. 

Cplt ¶¶ 1, 22, 36. Prior to their marriage, they had lived together for many years and had 

two children. Cplt ¶¶ 22, 24. They entered into a California Registered Domestic 

Partnership in 2003. Cplt ¶ 25.

Taboada-Hall worked for defendant FedEx Corporation ("FedEx") for 26 years and 

was a fully-vested participant in defendant FedEx Corporation Employees Pension Plan 

("the Plan"). Cplt ¶¶ 1, 26. Taboada-Hall was diagnosed with cancer in February 2010. 

Cplt ¶ 27. By November 2012, she went on a medical leave of absence. Cplt ¶ 28. 

Plaintiff asserts that in February 2013, she and Taboada-Hall communicated with

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Harry Saurer, a FedEx Human Resources (“HR”) representative in Sacramento, 

California, about Taboada-Hall's pension and other employment benefits. Cplt ¶ 29. Mr. 

Saurer allegedly advised Taboada-Hall not to take early retirement, and recommended 

that she list plaintiff as sole beneficiary for the life insurance and 401(k) plan; however, he 

allegedly said he didn't know whether the defined benefit (pension) could pass to a 

"partner" if she died, and that she should ask "someone else." Cplt ¶ 29. 

Plaintiff claims that FedEx breached its fiduciary duty to provide complete and 

accurate information through the statements of its representatives. Cplt ¶¶ 61-65. In 

particular, she asserts that FedEx failed to inform Taboada-Hall and plaintiff that plaintiff 

would not be entitled to a survivor benefit if Taboada-Hall died before retirement, and 

misled Taboada-Hall by discouraging her from retirement, when plaintiff would have been 

entitled to a benefit – albeit a reduced nonspousal benefit – if Taboada-Hall had retired 

before she died. Cplt ¶¶ 62-63.

On June 3, 2013, Taboada-Hall's doctor advised her that her cancer was terminal. 

Cplt ¶ 30. Plaintiff claims that in further reviewing what benefits would be available to 

plaintiff after Taboada-Hall's death, she and Taboada-Hall discovered that the Plan 

incorporated the definition of "spouse" from § 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act 

(“DOMA”). Cplt ¶¶ 32, 33. Between June 3 and June 13, 2013, they allegedly had phone 

conversations with FedEx HR personnel, and on June 13, 2013, were finally told that 

plaintiff would not receive the spousal survivor benefit under the Plan, because "spouse" 

was limited to opposite-sex partners. Cplt ¶ 34.

Taboada-Hall died on June 20, 2013. Cplt ¶ 36. Six days later, on June 26, 2013, 

the United States Supreme Court declared § 3 of DOMA unconstitutional. See United 

States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013). On September 18, 2013, plaintiff obtained an 

order from the Sonoma County Superior Court stating that the couple's marriage was

valid, and the court issued a marriage certificate showing the date of marriage as June 

19, 2013. Cplt ¶ 38.

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On November 26, 2013, plaintiff submitted a claim for survivor benefits under the 

Plan. Cplt ¶ 40. By letter dated April 30, 2014, FedEx denied the claim, on the basis that 

at the time of Taboada-Hall's death, the Plan applied the DOMA definition to "spouse" 

and thus did not provide survivor benefits to same-sex spouses. Cplt ¶ 42. Plaintiff 

appealed the decision on June 27, 2014. Cplt ¶ 43. On August 25, 2014, defendant 

FedEx Corporation Retirement Appeals Committee ("RAC") issued a letter denying 

plaintiff's appeal, and stating that "for purposes of the Plan" Taboada-Hall was “unmarried 

at the time of her death, and had no surviving [s]pouse.” Cplt ¶ 45.

Plaintiff filed this action on January 14, 2014. Named as defendants are FedEx, 

the Plan, and RAC. Plaintiff asserts three causes of action – (1) a claim for benefits 

under ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B), 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B) (against all defendants); (2) a 

claim of breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA § 502(a)(3), 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3) 

(against FedEx and RAC), for failure to administer the Plan in accordance with applicable 

law; and (3) a claim of breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA § 502(a)(3), 29 U.S.C. 

§ 1132(a)(3) (against FedEx), for failure to inform and/or providing misleading 

communications. 

DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

“For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district 

court may transfer any action to any other district or division where it might have been 

brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). The purpose of this statute is “to prevent the waste of 

time, energy and money and to protect litigants, witnesses and the public against 

unnecessary inconvenience and expense.” Van Dusen v. Barrack, 376 U.S. 612, 616 

(1964).

In deciding a motion to transfer venue, the district court must consider each of the 

factors enumerated in § 1404(a) – whether the action could have been brought in the 

proposed transferee district, the convenience of the parties, the convenience of the 

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witnesses, and the interests of justice. Hatch v. Reliance Ins. Co., 758 F.2d 409, 414 

(9th Cir. 1985); see also Jones v. GNC Franchising, Inc., 211 F.3d 495, 498-99 (9th Cir. 

2000).

Courts commonly consider the following factors to evaluate whether the interests 

of justice warrant a transfer of venue under § 1404(a): (1) the plaintiff's choice of forum, 

(2) the convenience of the parties, (3) the convenience of the witnesses, (4) the ease of 

access to the evidence, (5) the familiarity of each forum with the applicable law, (6) the 

feasibility of consolidation of other claims, (7) any local interest in the controversy, and 

(8) the relative court congestion and time of trial in each forum. See Vu v. Ortho-McNeil 

Pharmaceutical, Inc., 602 F.Supp.2d 1151, 1156 (N.D. Cal. 2009); Williams v. Bowman, 

157 F.Supp.2d 1103, 1106 (N.D. Cal. 2001); see also Atlantic Marine Constr. Co., Inc. v. 

United States Dist. Court for the Western Dist. of Texas, 134 S. Ct. 568, 581 & n.6 (2013) 

(citing Piper Aircraft v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 241 n.6 (1981)). 

The moving party has the burden of showing that the balance of convenience of 

parties and the interest of justice weighs heavily in favor of transfer to overcome the 

strong presumption in favor of the plaintiffs' choice of forum. See Piper Aircraft, 454 U.S. 

at 255; Decker Coal Co. v. Commonwealth Edison Co., 805 F.2d 834, 843 (9th Cir. 

1986); Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n v. Savage, 611 F.2d 270, 279 (9th Cir.

1979). No single factor is dispositive, though a plaintiff's choice of forum must be 

accorded some weight in the analysis. Atlantic Marine, 134 S.Ct. at 581 n.6. A transfer 

may not be appropriate if it would “merely shift rather than eliminate the inconvenience.” 

Decker Coal, 805 F.2d at 843. 

B. Defendants' Motion

Defendant FedEx is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, and defendants seek 

an order transferring this case to the Western District of Tennessee. The defendant Plan 

is an employee-benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA. FedEx is the Administrator of 

the Plan, although it delegated the plan administration to the FedEx Retirement Service 

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Center in Deerfield, Illinois, and the appeals package was assembled by Aon Claims 

Management in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Defendant RAC is an internal committee consisting 

of FedEx employees who work in Memphis. The three members of the committee that 

made the determination regarding plaintiff's appeal reside in Tennessee or Northern 

Mississippi. Defendants assert that all records pertaining to plaintiff's claim for benefits 

are maintained in Illinois, with copies in Memphis, Tennessee.

Defendants argue, first, that jurisdiction exists and venue is proper in the Western 

District of Tennessee under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). They assert that because all the 

defendants may be found in the proposed transferee forum, plaintiff could have properly 

commenced this action in that forum, as both jurisdiction and venue are proper there. 

Second, with regard to plaintiff's choice of forum, defendants concede that this 

factor appears to favor plaintiff, but assert that this forum may not be proper as to 

defendant RAC, as it is not a resident of California and may not be found in this District. 

The members of the RAC are all residents of Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, and 

none are found here. Thus, defendants contend, venue may not be proper in this district 

under § 1391(b).

With regard to convenience of parties and witnesses, defendants note that the 

convenience of witnesses is often viewed as the most important factor in transfer of 

venue. They assert that this factor "weighs heavily" in favor of transfer to the Western 

District of Tennessee, as the defendants in this case are all entities that can speak and 

act only through individual witnesses, and that those witnesses are all management-level 

employees of FedEx or its subsidiaries, including individual members of defendant RAC. 

Defendants contend that none of those witnesses resides in California, and that requiring 

key witnesses regarding the Plan and the decision-making process at issue to participate 

in a five-day trial "thousands of miles away” in the Northern District of California would 

require that they be absent from their daily jobs and that they travel from Tennessee to 

California, and stay in Oakland for the duration of the trial.

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With regard to the ease of access to evidence, defendants assert that the 

documents related to the decision to deny plaintiff's claim and to the appeal of the 

decision are all maintained in Illinois, with copies in Tennessee, and that none of the 

documents are maintained in California. Defendants concede that documents can be 

mailed to California from Tennessee and Illinois, but assert that mailing increases the risk 

of loss.

With regard to the familiarity of each forum with the applicable law, defendants first 

contend that this factor weighs in favor of transfer, as plaintiff has asserted claims under 

only ERISA – not under California law. Then, defendants assert that because the 

Northern District of California and the Western District of Tennessee are equally familiar 

with federal case law and statutes, this factor is neutral. 

With regard to local interest in the controversy, defendants argue that the only 

potential local interest in this forum is related to the fact that plaintiff resides here. They 

claim that the fact that the majority of witnesses and most of the evidence are located in 

the Western District of Tennessee means that the transferee venue has a strong local 

interest in the case, while this district has little or none. Thus, they assert that this factor 

favors transfer.

With regard to the relative congestion and time of trial in each forum, defendants 

assert that this factor also favors transfer. They provide a chart showing that the 

Northern District of California has more cases than the Western District of Tennessee, 

and that on average, in 2014 there were 383 cases per judge in the Northern District of 

California, and 326 cases per judge in the Western District of Tennessee. 

In opposition, plaintiff asserts that she chose this district to file suit because she 

lives here, her late spouse lived and worked and accrued pension benefits here, and 

because she and her spouse were married here. She claims that defendants' attempt to 

have the case transferred from this district to the Western District of Tennessee is at best 

an effort to shift the inconvenience of litigation from themselves to plaintiff, and at worst, 

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an attempt to forum-shop. 

With regard to the relevant factors, plaintiff first contends that a plaintiff's choice of 

forum is given substantial weight in consideration of whether to transfer venue under 

§ 1404(a), and that the defendant must make a strong showing of inconvenience to 

warrant upsetting plaintiff's choice. She asserts that the presumption in favor of the 

plaintiff's choice of forum may be rebutted if the party who has selected the forum does 

not reside there; where there is some suggestion of forum-shopping by the non-moving 

party; or where the chosen forum lacks a significant connection to the activities alleged in 

the complaint. However, she argues that none of these circumstances exists here, and 

that the court should give substantial weight to her choice of forum. 

Second, plaintiff asserts that venue is proper in this judicial district. She argues 

that defendants are improperly relying on the general venue statute, and that the 

appropriate statute is the provision in 29 U.S.C. § 1132(e)(2). Under this provision, 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." She asserts that a defendant 

may be "found" within the meaning of the ERISA venue provision in any district where the 

court has personal jurisdiction over that defendant.

Plaintiff notes that defendants do not claim that the court lacks personal 

jurisdiction over FedEx. Nor, she asserts, can they claim that the court lacks personal 

jurisdiction over RAC, because a pension plan may be found in the district where an 

employee performs work and earns pension credits. By that reasoning, plaintiff asserts, 

a committee that serves as the named fiduciary of a pension plan and is responsible for 

its operation and administration may also be found in that district. Plaintiff contends that 

because the pension benefit at issue in this case was accrued in this judicial district, and 

plaintiff's right to a survivor benefit arose in this district, the Plan and RAC may also be 

found in this district. As for defendants' argument that the members of RAC reside in 

Tennessee and Mississippi, plaintiff notes that she has not sued the individual members 

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of RAC, but rather RAC itself, which is a separate entity. 

Moreover, plaintiff argues, the "breaches" alleged here – denial of the survivor 

pension benefit and communication of inaccurate or incomplete information to plaintiff 

and her spouse – occurred primarily in Sonoma County, which she claims further 

supports venue in this district, and does not favor transfer. 

Third, plaintiff asserts that most of the individuals who may provide testimony 

reside in California. She has alleged three causes of action in the complaint, and 

contends that the first cause of action (denial of benefits) will be decided on the 

administrative record, with no witness testimony required or permitted; and that the 

second cause of action (breach of fiduciary duty, failure to administer Plan in accordance 

with applicable law) presents a primarily legal question regarding whether FedEx is 

required to grant a survivor benefit to a same-sex surviving spouse of a participant who 

died before the Supreme Court's decision in Windsor, and the only evidence required is 

likely to be documents. 

Plaintiff argues that it is only the third cause of action (breach of fiduciary duty, 

failure to inform and/or providing misleading communications) that will require witness 

testimony, to determine whether FedEx misled plaintiff and Taboada-Hall or failed to 

provide accurate information. Here, plaintiff asserts, the primary witnesses will be plaintiff 

herself (living in Sebastopol) and Mr. Saurer (based in Sacramento). She contends that 

she and Mr. Saurer can be expected to testify about their conversations regarding 

Taboada-Hall's pension and other employee benefits. 

Fourth, plaintiff argues that the relevant evidence is easily accessed in California. 

She notes defendants' assertion that all documents relating to the decision to deny her 

claim for benefits are in Illinois, with copies in Tennessee, but contends that the universe 

of relevant documents is relatively small – a few thousand pages at most – and that they 

will have to be produced to plaintiff in California in any event (as they constitute the 

administrative record), regardless of whether or not the case is transferred. She also 

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asserts that the reality of electronic communications and transmission at least dilutes the 

weight given to this part of the convenience analysis, and asserts that any difficulties in 

accessing the evidence must be more significant than those that can be overcome by the 

availability of electronic data transfer. She argues that this factor does not favor transfer. 

Fifth, plaintiff asserts that California has a strong interest in this controversy, given 

the contacts between California and the claims asserted – and the connections of plaintiff 

and Taboada-Hall to California. Thus, she asserts, this factor does not favor transfer. 

Sixth, with regard to relative congestion, plaintiff argues that the number of 

pending cases is not the most important statistic, and that determinative factor in the 

inquiry is the difference between the two jurisdictions' "median time from filing to 

disposition or trial." She claims that in that regard, the Northern District is less congested 

than the Western District of Tennessee, although the differences between the two are not 

"stark," and thus of little import in the analysis. 

The court finds that on balance, the relevant factors do not favor transfer. First, it 

is true that venue and jurisdiction are proper in the Western District of Tennessee. Thus, 

the case "could have been brought" in that district. However, plaintiff is also correct that 

ERISA contains a venue provision that is broader than the general venue statute. See 29 

U.S.C. § 1132(e)(2). With this provision, “Congress intended to give ERISA plaintiffs an 

expansive range of venue locations.” Bohara v. Backus Hosp. Med. Benefit Plan, 390 

F.Supp.2d 957, 960 (C.D. Cal. 2005) (citing Varsic v. U.S. District Court for the Central 

District of California, 607 F.2d 245, 248 (9th Cir. 1979)). 

Under the ERISA venue provision, venue is proper where the plan is administered, 

where the alleged breach took place, or where the defendant “resides” or “may be found.” 

29 U.S.C. § 1132(e)(2). ERISA also provides for nationwide service of process. Id. This 

means that service on a defendant in an ERISA case anywhere in the United States is 

sufficient to establish personal jurisdiction, and there is no need to engage in the 

“minimum contacts” analysis. See Cripps v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am., 980 F.2d 12161, 

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1267 (9th Cir. 1992). 

While the service-of-process provision does not control venue, the same test for 

corporate “residence” under the general venue statute applies to the ERISA venue 

statute; that is, a corporate defendant is deemed to “reside” (in any judicial district in 

which it is subject to personal jurisdiction. See Schwarzer, Tashima & Wagstaffe, 

Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial (2015 ed) §§ 4:465, et seq. Similarly, a defendant 

“may be found” in any judicial district where the defendant has sufficient “minimum 

contacts” to support personal jurisdiction. See id. at § 4:468. Thus, venue is also proper 

in this district. 

As for the relevant factors, the court finds, first, that plaintiff’s choice of forum 

weighs strongly against transfer. A plaintiff’s choice of forum “is entitled to greater 

deference when the plaintiff has chosen to file suit in his/her home forum. Piper Aircraft, 

454 U.S. at 255. Moreover, courts give significant deference to the plaintiff's choice of 

forum in ERISA cases. Jacobson v. Hughes Aircraft Co., 105 F.3d 1288, 1302 (9th Cir.) 

opinion amended on other grounds on denial of reh'g, 128 F.3d 1305 (9th Cir. 1997) and 

rev'd on other grounds, 525 U.S. 432 (1999). Plaintiff resides in this district, any pension 

benefits were earned here, the claim for benefits arose here and was filed here, and 

plaintiff would have received any benefits here. Thus, plaintiff has significant ties to this 

forum. See Brown v. Sun Trust Banks, Inc., 66 F.Supp. 3d 81, 84-85 (D.D.C. 2014). 

The Plan is administered in Illinois, and any alleged breaches arguably occurred in 

the place of administration. However, defendants have not provided any persuasive 

reason for the court to entirely disregard plaintiff’s choice of forum and to transfer this 

case to the Western District of Tennessee. See Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n, 

611 F.2d at 278-79 (“[t]he defendant must make a strong showing of inconvenience to 

warrant upsetting the plaintiff's choice of forum”). Defendants’ primary argument appears 

to be that the Western District of Tennessee is a preferred forum because FedEx is 

headquartered in Memphis. 

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Second, with regard to the convenience of parties and witnesses, this factor does 

not strongly favor either side. The convenience of witnesses is generally considered “the 

most important factor in passing on a transfer motion.” Los Angeles Mem'l Coliseum 

Comm'n v. NFL, 89 F.R.D. 497, 501 (C.D. Cal. 1981). Of particular importance is the 

convenience of non-party witnesses and their relative importance in the case. Saleh v. 

Titan Corp., 361 F.Supp.2d 1152, 1160-61 (S.D. Cal. 2005). Neither side has clearly 

identified any non-party witnesses. Plaintiff and Mr. Saurer (whom defendants claim is 

employed by Federal Express Corporation, not named as a defendant herein) are both 

located in California, and defendants and their witnesses (unidentified except for three 

individual members of the RAC) are located either in Tennessee or Mississippi (or 

possibly Illinois). Defendants have not shown that it will be more inconvenient for any of 

their witnesses to travel to California than it would be for plaintiff and Mr. Sauer to travel 

to Tennessee.

Third, with regard to ease of access to evidence, this factor also does not strongly 

favor either side. While it is true that documents relating to the evaluation and denial of 

plaintiff's claim are located in Illinois and/or Tennessee, defendants are in any event 

required to produce those documents to plaintiff, who is located here, and in addition, 

defendants have not identified any other relevant documents apart from those that would 

be part of the administrative record. “With technological advances in document storage 

and retrieval, transporting documents does not generally create a burden.” David v. 

Alphin, 2007 WL 39400, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 4, 2007).

Fourth, with regard to the familiarity of each forum with the applicable law, this 

factor does not favor either side. The complaint asserts three causes of action under 

ERISA. The court presumes that all federal courts have equal familiarity with the 

governing law. 

Fifth, with regard to the local interest in the controversy, this factor favors plaintiff. 

She is a long-time resident of this judicial district, and was married here to the Plan 

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participant. California has an interest in ensuring that its citizens receive any benefits to 

which they are entitled. The Plan is administered in Illinois, and FedEx’s corporate 

headquarters is located in Tennessee. Defendants assert that the fact that “the majority 

of witnesses and evidence, plus a majority of the parties are located in [the Western 

District of Tennessee] means that that district has “a strong local interest in the case.” 

The court does not agree. Defendants’ interest appears to be connected to their decision 

to deny payment of survivor benefits to spouses in same-sex marriages, which is not an 

interest that is specifically tied to Tennessee.

Sixth, with regard to the relative congestion and time to trial in each forum, this is a 

relatively insignificant factor, which is neutral in this case, as the statistics cited by the 

parties do not show a strong disparity between the two jurisdictions. 

CONCLUSION

Having considered the relevant factors regarding the convenience of the parties 

and witnesses and the interests of justice, the court finds that defendants have not met 

their high burden of showing that a transfer of venue to the Western District of Tennessee

is warranted. Accordingly, the motion is DENIED. 

The date for the hearing on the motion, previously set for July 29, 2015, is 

VACATED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: July 22, 2015

__________________________________

PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON

United States District Judge

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