Wonderful Nurseries LLC v. Agricultural Labor Relations Board

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 WONDERFUL NURSERIES LLC, No. 1:24-cv-01601-KES-CDB 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER CONSOLIDATING RELATED CASES BOARD, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 WESTERN GROWERS ASSOCIATION No. 1:25-cv-00577-KES-CDB 17 and OLIVE HILL GREENHOUSES, INC,

18 Plaintiffs,

19 v. BOARD, et al., 21 Defendants. 22

23 24 On May 20, 2025, the Court issued an order to show cause (“OSC”) why the above 25 captioned cases should not be consolidated. All parties in each case have responded to the OSC, 26 and no party opposes consolidation. (No. 24-cv-01601, Docs. 55–58; No. 25-cv-00577, Docs. 27 37–39.) 28 /// 1 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a) provides that “[i]f actions before the court involve a 2 common question of law or fact, the court may: (1) join for hearing or trial any or all matters at 3 issue in the actions; (2) consolidate the actions; or (3) issue any other orders to avoid unnecessary 4 cost or delay.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a). The purpose of Rule 42 “is to give the district court broad 5 discretion to decide how cases on its docket are to be tried so that the business of the court may 6 be dispatched with expedition and economy while providing justice to the parties.” 9A Charles 7 Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2381 (3d ed. April 2025). A 8 court exercising its “broad discretion” under Rule 42, “weighs the saving of time and effort 9 consolidation would produce against any inconvenience, delay, or expense that it would cause.” 10 Huene v. United States, 743 F.2d 703, 704 (9th Cir.), on reh’g, 753 F.2d 1081 (9th Cir. 1984). 11 Here, the two cases present virtually identical constitutional challenges to what are known 12 as the mandatory mediation and conciliation (“MMC”) provisions of the California Agricultural 13 Labor Relations Act (“ALRA”), Labor Code section 1164 et seq. The complaint filed by 14 Wonderful Nurseries LLC and the complaint filed by Western Growers Association and Olive 15 Hill Greenhouses, Inc., assert the same seven causes of action against the same defendants. 16 (Compare No. 24-cv-01601, Doc. 1, with No. 25-cv-00577, Doc. 1.) In a broader sense, all 17 plaintiffs—including those recently granted intervention in Case No. 24-cv-01601—seek to have 18 the MMC provisions declared unconstitutional and to enjoin defendants from enforcing them. 19 (No. 24-cv-01601, Docs. 1, 13-1; No. 25-cv-00577, Doc. 1.) Consolidating the above captioned 20 cases was also contemplated in the Order transferring Case No. 25-cv-00577 to this district, 21 which recognized that “[t]he possibility of consolidation weighs in favor of transfer.” (No. 25-cv- 22 00577, Doc. 21-1 at 1–2 (citing A.J. Indus., Inc v. U.S. Dist. Court for Cent. Dist. Of Cal., 503 23 F.2d 384, 389 (9th Cir. 1974))). In sum, consolidating these related cases would result in 24 substantial administrative benefits and only minimal inconvenience, delay, or expense. Huene, 25 743 F.2d at 704. 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 Accordingly: 2 1. The above-referenced cases shall be consolidated for all purposes, including trial, 3 pursuant to Rule 42(a); 4 2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to file this Order in each of the above-referenced 5 cases; 6 3. Going forward, the parties and the Clerk of the Court are directed to file 7 documents under only the lead case number. Future captions should indicate the 8 lead case number followed by the member case number as follows: 9 Lead Case: 1:24-cv-01601-KES-CDB 10 Member Case: 1:25-cv-00577-KES-CDB 11 4. Plaintiffs shall file and serve a consolidated complaint within seven (7) days of the 12 date of this Order. Defendants’ response to the consolidated complaint shall be 13 filed and served within fourteen (14) days of filing and service of the consolidated 14 complaint; and 15 5. The scheduling conference set for September 25, 2025 at 09:30 AM in Bakersfield 16 (CDB) before Magistrate Judge Christopher D. Baker remains set. 17 18 19 | IT IS SO ORDERED. _ 20 Dated: _ July 1, 2025 4A : UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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