ST. LOUIS - A Missouri federal court ruled that a class action lawsuit against a St. Louis credit collection service will remain in the state.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division issued an opinion, memorandum and order on Feb. 12 denying Shanequa Watson’s motion to transfer her complaint against Credit Control LLC to a federal court in Michigan.
“The Plaintiff has not met her burden of showing the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interest of justice strongly favor transfer to the Eastern District of Michigan; therefore, the Court will deny the motion,” U.S. District Judge Henry Edward Autrey wrote in the six-page ruling.
Watson initiated litigation against Credit Control for allegedly violating the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act “by failing to notify the plaintiff that a partial payment of the debt Defendant was attempting to collect would restart the running of the statute of limitations.”
According to the ruling, the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division was Watson’s original choice of forum, but “the plaintiff now argues that this forum is no longer convenient for her because she is unable to travel to Missouri from Michigan because she has no child care.”
“Plaintiff’s argument is, however, unpersuasive,” Autrey wrote. “This is a putative class action which is brought on behalf of all consumers with a Michigan address that have received Defendant’s collection letters similar to the one Plaintiff received. While Plaintiff seeks to be the class representative, she is not the only Plaintiff seeking recovery in this action.”
The order further states that it is on Watson “and the purported class to seek a substitution Plaintiff for the class.”
“Plaintiff chose to file this action in this district and the parties have engaged in substantial preparation to date,” Autrey wrote. “While Plaintiff herself may now be inconvenienced by her choice of forum, she has failed to demonstrate to the Court that all class members are unable to participate in this action in this district.”
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division Case No. 4:19-cv-00137