White v. King County Sheriff's Office

Opinion

1 2 3

4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 MELISSA WHITE; ROGER WHITE, CASE NO. 2:23-cv-01761-JHC 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ 9 MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE CASES v. 10 KING COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE et al., 11

Defendants. 12 13 KILLIAN WHITE; DAMON WHITE, CASE NO. 2:24-cv-00618-JHC 14 Plaintiffs, 15 v. 16 KING COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE et al., 17

Defendants. 18 19

20 This matter comes before the Court on “Plaintiffs’ Joint Motion to Consolidate Cases 21 Under FRCP 42 and to Extend the Deadlines of this Motion.”1 2:23-cv-01761-JHC, Dkt. # 71; 22

23 1 The Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ motion to extend the deadline for Defendants’ response to be filed by January 17, 2025 and Plaintiffs’ reply to be filed by January 27, 2025. 2:23-cv-01761-JHC, Dkt. 24 # 71 at 2. 1 2:24-cv-00618-JHC, Dkt. # 60. Plaintiffs seek consolidation of Melissa White v. King County 2 Sheriff’s Office, No. 2:23-cv-01761-JHC, and Killian White v. King County Sheriff’s Office, No. 3 2:24-cv-00618-JHC.

4 Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a), the Court may consolidate cases when they 5 involve a common question of law or fact. “District courts enjoy substantial discretion in 6 deciding whether and to what extent to consolidate cases.” Hall v. Hall, 584 U.S. 59, 77 (2018). 7 In determining whether to consolidate cases, courts consider whether consolidation would serve 8 “judicial economy,” “expedite resolution of the case,” or avoid “inconsistent results.” See 9 Johnson v. Monts, 2024 WL 115683, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 10, 2024) (quoting 9 Charles Alan 10 Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2383 (3d ed., Apr. 2022 Update)). 11 The Court DENIES the motion to consolidate because the two cases present enough 12 differences such that consolidation is not necessary at this time.

13 Dated this 18th day of February, 2025. 14 15 a John H. Chun 16 United States District Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24