Olivares v. C.R. England, Inc., 2:22-cv-00123

Plaintiff Jose F. Olivares sued his former employer C.R. England, Inc. (CRE) in Wayne County, Michigan; CRE removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
CRE moved to transfer the case to the District of Utah under a forum-selection clause in the parties’ employment agreement consenting to jurisdiction and venue in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Eastern District of Michigan magistrate recommended transfer; Judge Mark A. Goldsmith adopted that recommendation and ordered transfer to Utah.
After transfer, Olivares filed a Rule 12(b)(2) motion in the District of Utah seeking to transfer/dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction because he has no contacts with Utah.
Magistrate Judge Jared C. Bennett recommended denying Olivares’s motion, concluding (1) law-of-the-case prevents relitigation of the Michigan court’s transfer decision and (2) Olivares waived any personal-jurisdiction objection by agreeing to the forum-selection clause.
The court found Olivares failed to show the clause was procured by fraud, would be unreasonable or would deprive him of his day in court; thus enforcement was appropriate.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Utah court lacks personal jurisdiction over Olivares	Olivares: he is not a Utah resident, never been to Utah, has no minimum contacts; thus 12(b)(2) dismissal/transfer warranted	CRE: Olivares waived jurisdictional objections by consenting in the forum-selection clause; no need to analyze contacts	Denied — Olivares consented to jurisdiction via forum-selection clause and did not show enforcement would be unreasonable or invalid
Whether this court may revisit the Eastern District of Michigan’s transfer order	Olivares: asks Utah court to reverse Michigan transfer by asserting lack of jurisdiction	CRE: transfer order already decided; law-of-the-case bars relitigation in transferee court	Denied — law-of-the-case counsels against reevaluating the transferor court’s ruling; Utah court should not revisit transfer decision

M/S Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., 407 U.S. 1 (forum-selection clauses are prima facie valid and enforceable unless unreasonable)
Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462 (personal-jurisdiction protections are waivable; forum clauses can supply consent)
Chrysler Credit Corp. v. Country Chrysler, Inc., 928 F.2d 1509 (10th Cir.) (transferee court should not reevaluate transferor court’s transfer order / law-of-the-case)
Marcus Food Co. v. DiPanfilo, 671 F.3d 1159 (10th Cir.) (personal-jurisdiction due-process framework: minimum contacts and fair play analysis)
XMission, L.C. v. Fluent LLC, 955 F.3d 833 (10th Cir.) (Utah’s long-arm statute reaches to the limits of due process)
Nieme v. Lasshofer, 770 F.3d 1331 (10th Cir.) (forum-selection clauses enforceable unless enforcement is unreasonable)
Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, 499 U.S. 585 (form-contract forum-selection clauses subject to fairness review)