Demboski v. CSX Transportation, Inc.

157 F.R.D. 28, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10974, 1994 WL 407213
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedJuly 29, 1994
DocketCiv. A. No. 1:93cv558GR
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 157 F.R.D. 28 (Demboski v. CSX Transportation, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Demboski v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 157 F.R.D. 28, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10974, 1994 WL 407213 (S.D. Miss. 1994).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PICKERING, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the Motion to Sever filed on behalf of Defendant CSX Transportation, Inc. The Court, having reviewed the motion, the briefs of the parties, the authorities cited, and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, finds to-wit:

The present lawsuit was filed on November 1, 1993, in the Circuit Court of Hancock County, Mississippi, and subsequently, removed to this Court on November 12, 1993 by the Defendant. The Plaintiffs are as follows:

Plaintiff Kristy K. Demboski, acting in both her individual and representative capacity, sues the Defendant for the wrongful death of Scott R. Demboski, based on a crossing accident that occurred on January 24, 1993, at approximately 5:30 p.m., in the City of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Plaintiffs Laura Hermes and Rae Hopkins, in both their individual and representative capacities, sue the Defendant for the wrongful death of Alfred P. Hermes, based on a crossing accident that occurred on April 6, 1992, at approximately 5:30 a.m., in the City of Biloxi, Mississippi.

Plaintiff Charles Hodge, in both an individual and representative capacity, sues the Defendant for the wrongful death of Margaret Hodge, based on a crossing accident that occurred on June 16, 1992, at approximately 9:00 p.m., in the City of Long Beach, Mississippi.

Plaintiff Lawrence McGee sues the Defendant for personal injuries sustained in a crossing accident that occurred on November 4, 1992, at approximately 8:00 a.m., in the City of Biloxi, Mississippi.

The Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit against the Defendant CSX Transportation, Inc., seeking recovery for wrongful deaths and personal injuries. The Plaintiffs contend [29]*29that the losses alleged by the Plaintiffs all spring from a pattern or general practice by CSX of a lack of internal governance with respect to federal, local and internal safety rules and regulations.

The Defendant has filed a motion to sever. The Defendant contends that the Plaintiffs’ claims should be severed into four separate actions pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21. The Defendant argues that none of the Plaintiffs’ assertions for a right to relief arise out of the same transaction or occurrence or series of transactions or occurrences, nor raise a common question of law or fact. More specifically, the Defendant points out that the crossing accidents alleged by the Plaintiffs involve different crossings, different times, different dates, different driver conduct, different trains, different crews, different Plaintiffs, and different physical facts relating to federal preemption.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21 governs misjoinder of parties. Rule 21 provides:

Misjoinder of parties is not ground for dismissal of an action. Parties may be dropped or added by order of the court on motion of any party or of its own initiative at any stage of the action and on such terms as are just. Any claim against a party may be severed and proceeded with separately.

“[T]he determination of a motion to sever is within the discretion of the court.” Bolling v. Mississippi Paper Co., 86 F.R.D. 6, 7 (N.D.Miss.1979). In determining whether parties are misjoined, the joinder standard of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20(a) applies. Rule 20(a) provides:

(a) Permissive joinder All persons may join in one action as plaintiffs if they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or in the alternative in respect of or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences and if any question of law or fact common to all these persons will arise in the action.

“In ascertaining whether a particular factual situation constitutes a single transaction or occurrence for purposes of Rule 20, a case by case approach is generally pursued.” Mosley v. General Motors Corporation, 497 F.2d 1330, 1333 (8th Cir.1974). Although the purpose of Rule 20 “is to promote trial convenience and expedite the final determination of disputes, thereby preventing multiple lawsuits,” it is well established that unrelated claims may be severed to promote the legitimate interest of some of the parties. Id.; Hohlbein v. Heritage Mutual Insurance Company, 106 F.R.D. 73, 78 (E.D.Wis.1985).

The cases consistently construe Rule 20(a) as providing a two-prong test, as expressed by Rule 20 itself, as requisite to the permissive joinder of more than one plaintiff in a given action. See Mosley, supra, and Hohl-bein, supra. To satisfy the first prong of the test “a right to relief must be asserted by, or against, each plaintiff or defendant relating to or arising out of the same transaction or occurrence.... ” League to Save Lake Tahoe v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 558 F.2d 914, 917 (9th Cir.1977). The key focus is whether the plaintiffs’ claims are part of a “series of transactions or occurrences.” Dougherty v. Mieczkowski, 661 F.Supp. 267, 277 (D.Del.1987).

Although the Plaintiffs cite several cases1 wherein courts have found plaintiffs’ rights to relief arose from one transaction or occurrence or a series of transactions or occurrences, this Court finds that the eases relied upon by the Plaintiffs differ from the case at hand. Most of the cases cited by the Plaintiffs involved allegations of discrimination and misrepresentations where the facts alleged by each plaintiff were inextricably interwoven together to show a common pattern of discrimination or misrepresentation. In the present case Plaintiffs’ rights to relief do not arise from one transaction or occurrence or a series of transactions or occurrences; for example, the four crossings accidents alleged in the Plaintiffs’ Complaint involved different plaintiffs, separate accidents, differ[30]*30ent crossings, different train crews, different dates and times, different driver conduct, different vehicles, different injuries, different damages, different defensive postures, and different physical facts which relate to federal preemption.

Although Plaintiffs may develop some evidence indicating negligence on the part of Defendant that will be common to all claims, this Court is persuaded that common sense dictates that the evidence in other instances as to each specific incident will be so dissimilar that it would be very difficult to manage a consolidated trial. Certainly it would be difficult to try all four of these separate cases together and be fair to all parties.

The Court finds that the burden imposed on the Defendant to defend four substantially different sets of facts and law in only one forum far outweighs any practical benefits that might accrue to the parties and the Court in the conservation of judicial, prosecutorial, and defensive resources. Therefore, the Court holds that the Plaintiffs have failed to satisfy the first prong of Rule 20(a). The Court points out that the illustration set out in the case of Sun-X Glass Tinting of Mid-Wisconsin v. Sun-X International, Inc., 227 F.Supp.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Illinois Central RR Co. v. Gregory
912 So. 2d 829 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2005)
Cox v. City of Jackson
343 F. Supp. 2d 546 (S.D. Mississippi, 2004)
Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc. v. Armond
866 So. 2d 1092 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004)
Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc. v. Colantha Armond
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2003
Coleman v. Conseco, Inc.
238 F. Supp. 2d 804 (S.D. Mississippi, 2002)
Prestage Farms, Inc. v. Norman
813 So. 2d 732 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2002)
Illinois Central RR Co. v. Travis
808 So. 2d 928 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2002)
Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. 11C Music
202 F.R.D. 229 (M.D. Tennessee, 2001)
American Bankers Ins. Co. of Florida v. Alexander
818 So. 2d 1073 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Prestage Farms, Inc. v. Jim Norman
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2000
Randleel v. Pizza Hut of America, Inc.
182 F.R.D. 542 (N.D. Illinois, 1998)
Kohn v. American Housing Foundation I, Inc.
170 F.R.D. 474 (D. Colorado, 1996)
Applewhite v. Reichhold Chemicals, Inc.
67 F.3d 571 (Fifth Circuit, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
157 F.R.D. 28, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10974, 1994 WL 407213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/demboski-v-csx-transportation-inc-mssd-1994.