Background
Nicholas Services, L.L.C. and Corr Flight S., Incorporated sued Glassdoor, L.L.C. in Mississippi state court, alleging that negative employee reviews on Glassdoor’s website defamed them. Glassdoor removed the case to federal court and moved to transfer venue to the Northern District of California based on a forum selection clause. The district court severed Nicholas Air’s claims and transferred them to California, while dismissing Corr Flight’s defamation claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure twelve comma C. Nicholas Air and Corr Flight appealed the transfer and dismissal orders.
The court’s reasoning
The court held that it lacks jurisdiction over Nicholas Air’s claims because the case was transferred to a district court in a different circuit and has since reached final judgment. The court explained that once a case is transferred out of the circuit, the Fifth Circuit cannot order the transferee court to return the case. The court affirmed the dismissal of Corr Flight’s defamation claim, finding no reversible error in the district court’s determination that the complaint failed to allege facts showing the statements were clearly directed at Corr Flight or were clearly and unmistakably defamatory.
What it means going forward
This ruling reinforces that parties must challenge transfer orders promptly and cannot wait until a case is finalized in a sister circuit to seek reversal. It also confirms that defamation claims against online review platforms must meet a high pleading standard to survive a motion for judgment on the pleadings.
Podcast (federal-narrative-summaries): Play in new window | Download