United States v. EI Du Pont De Nemours & Co.
| Decision Date | 01 April 1949 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 5017 — 47. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS & CO. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
John Lord O'Brian and Gerhard A. Gesell, both of Washington, D. C., for defendant, for the motion.
James L. Minicus, of Washington, D. C., for plaintiff, opposed.
This is a civil action brought by the United States for an injunction against E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, to restrain the defendant from continuing certain alleged violations of the anti-trust laws. The activities of which the Government complains are claimed to consist of attempts to monopolize trade and commerce in cellophane. The defendant moves for a change of venue to the District of Delaware.
The motion is made under Section 1404(a) of Title 28 U.S.C.A. which became effective on September 1, 1948, and reads as follows:
This provision introduced a new principle into Federal judicial procedure. It is a comprehensive, general statute applicable to all civil actions without exception. The innovation is salutary, as it enables the courts to make desirable adjustments as to places of trial, and puts plaintiffs and defendants more nearly on a plane of equality in those situations in which an action may be brought in any one of several districts. Previously, the final choice of the jurisdiction lay entirely with the plaintiff. This result obviously involved an element of unfairness, which the new statute endeavors to meet.
Manifestly, the general provision relating to change of place of trial, does not affect, and in turn is not restricted or limited by, any statutes relating to venue — either general venue statutes or special statutory provisions relating to venue in actions of specified types. The new provision assumes that the action has been filed in a jurisdiction where venue may be properly laid, for if it has not been so brought, it is subject to dismissal. The new statute assumes that the action has been instituted in a proper district, and grants to the court discretion to change the place of trial to some other district in which the action might have been originally commenced. In other words, the statute assumes that venue exists where suit is filed. The new provision begins where the venue statutes leave off, and empowers the court to change the venue. It seems clear that there is no basis for excepting Government antitrust actions from the purview of the new statute, as obviously the Congress intended that it should be comprehensive and all inclusive in its scope. United States v. National City Lines, D.C., 80 F.Supp. 734.
There is only one defendant in this action. It is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware. Its principal executive and business offices are located in Wilmington, Delaware. The activities challenged by the Government are within the purview of the so-called "rayon department" of the defendant. The administrative and executive offices of this department are likewise located at Wilmington, as are the defendant's main offices. The defendant's plants are maintained in Delaware as well as in several other States, but none is located in the District of Columbia. The defendant does not manufacture any cellophane in Washington. The defendant does transact some business in the District of Columbia, and is subject to service of process in this jurisdiction.
The officers and employees of the defendant, who will be called as witnesses, reside in or near Wilmington. None of them resides in the District of Columbia. Voluminous files and records will be necessary at the trial and all of them are located at Wilmington, Delaware. Counsel for the plaintiff claims that the Government will have several witnesses who are Government officers residing in the District of Columbia, but there is no contention that the number of these witnesses exceed, or even equal, the number of witnesses located in Wilmington. The Government's principal argument seems to be that Washington is within easy reach of Wilmington, insofar as Wilmington witnesses are concerned, and that as concerns other witnesses, it is at least as easy for them to travel to Washington, as Wilmington.
No reason is perceived why this action should be brought and tried in the District of Columbia. Manifestly, it does not properly belong here. Delaware is the proper jurisdiction, even though technically venue may also be laid in the District of...
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