Court Opinion

ID: 9946242
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-29 16:03:16.593917+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:33.165936
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-1329    Document: 35      Page: 1    Filed: 02/05/2024

            NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.

   United States Court of Appeals
       for the Federal Circuit
                   ______________________

                   KENNETH R. KENT,
                       Petitioner

                              v.

       SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION,
                     Respondent
               ______________________

                         2023-1329
                   ______________________

    Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection
 Board in No. DE-0752-17-0171-I-1.
                 ______________________

     Before LOURIE, PROST, and STOLL, Circuit Judges.
 PER CURIAM.
                         ORDER
     Because Kenneth R. Kent pursued discrimination
 claims before the Merit Systems Protection Board and
 stated that he does not wish to abandon those claims on
 judicial review, the court directed the parties to show cause
 why this case should not be transferred to a United States
 district court. The agency’s response urges transfer to the
 United States District Court for the District of Arizona,
 where Mr. Kent appears to currently reside. Mr. Kent re-
 sponds and continues to argue his discrimination claim.
Case: 23-1329     Document: 35     Page: 2    Filed: 02/05/2024

 2                                                 KENT v. SSA

     Federal district courts, not this court, have jurisdiction
 over “[c]ases of discrimination subject to the provisions of
 [5 U.S.C.] § 7702,” i.e., cases involving adverse actions ap-
 pealable to the Board and allegations of covered discrimi-
 nation. 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(2); Perry v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd.,
 582 U.S. 420, 432 (2017); 5 U.S.C. § 7702(a)(1). This case
 indisputably meets those criteria. This court therefore
 lacks jurisdiction over this petition.
     We may transfer a case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631
 to a court where “the action or appeal could have been
 brought.” Because Mr. Kent pursues a claim of discrimina-
 tion under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this action is gov-
 erned by the restrictions set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f).
 See 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(2) (“Cases of discrimination subject
 to the provisions of section 7702 of this title shall be filed
 under section 717(c) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
 U.S.C. 2000e–16(c)) . . . .”); 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–16(c) (speci-
 fying a federal employee or applicant “may file a civil action
 as provided in section 2000e-5”).
      That statute directs that such a case is set to be
 brought in “any judicial district in the State in which the
 unlawful employment practice is alleged to have been com-
 mitted, in the judicial district in which the employment
 records relevant to such practice are maintained and ad-
 ministered, or in the judicial district in which the aggrieved
 person would have worked but for the alleged unlawful em-
 ployment practice, but 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.” § 2000e-5(f)(3). The agency has not shown that
 transfer to the District of Arizona is appropriate. We in-
 stead transfer to the United States District Court for the
 District of Colorado, where the employment action oc-
 curred.
     Accordingly,
     IT IS ORDERED THAT:
Case: 23-1329    Document: 35     Page: 3   Filed: 02/05/2024

 KENT v. SSA                                              3

      Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631, this case and all trans-
 mittals are transferred to the United States District Court
 for the District of Colorado.
                                            FOR THE COURT

 February 5, 2024
       Date