Jones v. Lehigh Southwest Cement Company, Inc.

Filing 68

ORDER DISCHARGING Order to Show Cause re 64 , signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 8/5/2013. (Hall, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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WILLIAM RAY JONES SR.,

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Plaintiff,
v.
LEHIGH SOUTHWEST CEMENT
COMPANY, INC.,
Defendant.

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1: 12-CV-00633-AWI-JLT
ORDER DISCHARGING ORDER TO SHOW
CAUSE
(Doc. 64)

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Plaintiff is involved in a second action, Jones v. United Steelworkers, Case. No. 1:12-cv-1463-

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AWI-JLT, which appeared to the Court to involve the same events as this matter and seemed to include

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overlapping questions of fact. As a result, on July 11, 2013, the Court ordered the parties to show cause

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in writing, why the matters should not be consolidated with Jones v. United Steelworkers, Case. No.

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1:12-cv-1463-AWI-JLT, for all purposes, including discovery and trial.

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Plaintiff failed to respond in this case, but responded in the other. Though entitled, “Motion

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Against Bifurcation: Combining Cases,” the bulk of this document complains about the treatment he

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received by counsel, rather than addressing whether the matters should be consolidated. In both of the

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cases, Defendants object to consolidation for trial and argue that the limited factual overlap and the

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nonexistent legal overlap present the risk of jury confusion and undue waste of time.

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Based upon the arguments presented, the Court declines to consolidate the matters at this time.

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The parties SHALL cooperate in discovery efforts to minimize duplication of effort and the matters

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remain related but the matters are not consolidated for discovery purposes at this time.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

August 5, 2013

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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