Bautista-Cruz et al v. D&K Harvesting, Inc.

Filing 30

ORDER granting 29 Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Joinder of Six Additional Individuals as Parties Plaintiff and for Leave to File Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs shall have up to and including June 20, 2016 to file their Amended Complaint. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carol Mirando on 6/14/2016. (ANW)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
BALDEMAR BAUTISTA-CRUZ,
RICARDO GUERRERO-CHAVERO,
JOSE OMAR MARTINEZ-CORONEL,
ENRIQUE MARTINEZ-ZEFERINO,
LEOPOLDO ANTONIO ORTEGA,
EFREN PICHARDO-HERNANDEZ,
ANTONIO MARCELINO ROSENDO
and EDGAR DAVID VELAZQUEZREYES, individually and on behalf of
all other persons similarly situated
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No: 2:15-cv-725-FtM-29CM

D&K HARVESTING, INC.,
Defendant.
ORDER
Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Joinder of Six Additional
Individuals as Parties [sic] Plaintiff and for Leave to File Amended Complaint (Doc.
29), filed on May 28, 2016. Plaintiffs seek leave to join six additional individuals to
join in this action as party plaintiffs. Doc. 29 at 1. Plaintiffs also seek leave to
amend their complaint. Id. at 2. Defendant does not oppose the requested relief.

Id. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ motion is granted.
Rule 20, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, provides that individuals may join
as plaintiffs if, “they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or in the alternative
with respect to or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of
transactions or occurrences; and any question of law or fact common to all plaintiffs

will arise in the action.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a). “The central purpose of Rule 20 is to
promote trial convenience and expedite the resolution of disputes, thereby
eliminating unnecessary lawsuits.”

Brandywine Communications Technologies,

LLC v. Verizon Communications, Inc. et al., No. 6:11-cv-1344-Orl-36DAB, 2012 WL
527536, at *1 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 12, 2012) (citing Alexander v. Fulton County, 207 F.3d
1303, 1323 (11th Cir. 2003).
Here, Plaintiffs allege that the six workers seeking to join in this action have
claims identical those raised by the current party plaintiffs.

Doc. 29 at 3.

Additionally, Plaintiffs allege that joinder of these six individuals would promote
judicial economy and efficiency by preventing these individuals from filing their own
separate action. Id. at 2-3. The Court agrees. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ request for
joinder is granted.
Plaintiffs also seek leave to file an amended complaint to add the additional
plaintiffs and remove the class based claims. Doc. 29 at 4. Rule 15, Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure, provides that, for amendments not filed as a matter of course, “a
party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party’s written consent or the
court’s leave. The court should freely give leave when justice so requires.” Fed. R.
Civ. P. 15(a)(2). “Although leave to amend shall be freely given when justice so
requires, a motion to amend may be denied on numerous grounds such as undue
delay, undue prejudice to the defendants, and futility of the amendment.” Maynard

v. Bd. of Regents of the Div. of Univs. of the Fla. Dep’t of Educ. ex rel. Univ. of S. Fla.,
342 F.3d 1281, 1287 (11th Cir. 2003) (internal quotation marks omitted).

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Upon review of Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint, the Court finds that
amendment would not be futile as Plaintiff has asserted a good faith basis for the
amendment, and there is no evidence that granting Plaintiffs’ motion would cause
undue prejudice to Defendant. Thus, the Court will allow the amendment.
ACCORDINGLY, it is hereby
ORDERED:
1.

Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Joinder of Six Additional Individuals

as Parties Plaintiff and for Leave to File Amended Complaint (Doc. 29) is GRANTED.
2.

Plaintiffs’ shall have up to and including June 20, 2016 to file their

Amended Complaint.
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 14th day of June, 2016.

Copies:
Counsel of record

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