Denise Syron v. CBT Nuggets, LLC; Matthew Bromley; Shelly Galvin

Summary

The court grants Plaintiff Denise Syron’s motion to remand a removed state-court action to Multnomah County Circuit Court. It holds that removal was improper because the case was removed to the Eugene Division rather than the Portland Division, which embraces the county where the state action was pending, and declines to award attorney’s fees.

Holdings

1. Removal was improper because 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441(a) and 1446(a) require removal to the district and division embracing the place where the state action is pending; here, the proper division was the Portland Division.
2. The court declined to transfer the case to the Portland Division because the former local-rule provision relied upon for transfer had been removed from the District of Oregon Local Rules in 2012 and no longer supplied authority for the transfer.
3. The court denied plaintiff's request for attorney fees because defendants had an objectively reasonable basis for seeking removal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether removal to the Eugene Division was proper when the underlying state action was pending in Multnomah County, which lies in the Portland Division of the District of Oregon.
2. Whether the court could transfer the case to the Portland Division instead of remanding it.
3. Whether plaintiff was entitled to attorney fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).

Disposition

remanded