Willie Underwood v. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR), et al.

Opinion

1 2 3 6 7 WILLIE UNDERWOOD, Case No. 24-cv-04399-JST

8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 9 v. CONSOLIDATE CASES

10 CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF Re: ECF No. 66 CORRECTIONS & REHABILITATION 11 (CDCR), et al., Defendants. 12 13 14 Before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to consolidate the instant case with Adams v. 15 California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, 21-cv-8545-JST. ECF No. 66. The 16 instant case is a single plaintiff case raising similar claims as the Adams mass tort action. Id. at 2. 17 In addition to consolidating this case with Adams, Underwood requests that “the Court . . . place 18 Mr. Underwood’s case on the Adams litigation schedule,” i.e., vacate the case schedule in 19 Underwood’s case and proceed only with the bellwether trial schedule in Adams. ECF No. 66 at 20 4. Defendants do not oppose the motion. ECF No. 74. 21 A district court may consolidate actions that “involve a common question of law or 22 fact . . . . ” Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a). “The district court has broad discretion under this rule to 23 consolidate cases pending in the same district.” Inv’rs Research Co. v. U.S. Dist. Court for Cent. 24 Dist. of California, 877 F.2d 777, 777 (9th Cir. 1989). In deciding whether to consolidate actions, 25 “a court must balance the savings of time and effort consolidation will produce against any 26 inconvenience, delay, confusion, or prejudice that may result.” Takeda v. Turbodyne Techs., Inc., 27 67 F. Supp. 2d 1129, 1133 (C.D. Cal. 1999) (citing Burrus v. Turnbo, 743 F.2d 693, 694 (9th Cir. ] These cases involve largely overlapping facts and legal theories and are brought against the 2 same principal defendant. No party opposes consolidation. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the 3 motion to consolidate the two actions. Adams v. California Dep’t of Corrections & 4 Rehabilitation, Case No. 21-cv-8545-JST, and Underwood v. California Dep’t of Corrections & 5 Rehabilitation, Case No. 24-cv-04399-JST shall be consolidated both for purposes of trial and all 6 pre-trial proceedings, including discovery. Underwood shall be subject to the existing schedule in 7 Adams and all other deadlines in Underwood are vacated. Any future filings related to either of 8 these matters shall be made under only the lead case number, Case No. 21-cv-8545-JST. The 9 clerk is ordered to administratively close 24-cv-04399-JST.

11 Dated: July 14, 2026 12 JON S. TIGA 13 nited States District Judge

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