Radley Alcantara, et al. v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., and Honda Motor Company Limited
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Anthony J. Battaglia (author)
Analysis
The court considered a joint motion by the plaintiffs and defendant to consolidate the current action with a related case, Bissell v. American Honda Motor Co. The court granted the motion, ordering that all future submissions be filed in the Bissell case and discharging the prior Order to Show Cause.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Joint Motion to Consolidate granted“the joint motion to consolidate is GRANTED pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a).” | agree with court The court applied the correct legal standard for consolidation under Rule 42(a) and the Ninth Circuit precedent (Huene), finding that the cases shared common issues, were in similar stages, and consolidation would avoid duplicative discovery. The decision follows logically from the recited facts and the cited authority. |
Order to Show Cause discharged“In light of the Joint Motion, the Order to Show Cause regarding consolidation is hereby discharged.” | agree with court Since the consolidation was granted via the joint motion, the procedural mechanism of the Order to Show Cause is no longer necessary. Discharging it is a standard administrative consequence of granting the underlying motion. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the governing rule (FRCP 42(a)) and the controlling circuit precedent (Huene). It applies the balancing test to the specific facts (identical allegations, common issues, same venue) to reach a defensible result. The reasoning is complete for a procedural consolidation order.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RADLEY ALCANTARA, et al., Case No.: 25-cv-02376-AJB-MMP individually and on behalf of all others 12 ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION similarly situated, TO CONSOLIDATE 13 Plaintiffs, 14 v. (Doc. No. 34) 15 AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., INC., and HONDA MOTOR 16 COMPANY LIMITED, 17 Defendants. 18 19 Plaintiffs Radley Alcantara, Ashley Bowman, Kevin Lucey, Austin Polson, Tiffany 20 Richardson, and Brian Wise and Defendant American Honda Motor Co., Inc. jointly move 21 to consolidate this action with Bissell, et al. v. American Honda Motor Co., No. 22 3:24-cv-02286-AJB-MMP (S.D. Cal. Dec. 6, 2024), with Bissell serving as the lead case. 23 All future submissions shall be filed only in Bissell (Case No. 3:24-cv-02286-AJB-MMP). 24 For the reasons stated in this Court’s Order to Show Cause Re: Consolidation (Doc. 25 No. 33), and having considered the joint motion, the joint motion to consolidate is 26 GRANTED pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a). The benefit to judicial 27 convenience of consolidating this action with the Bissell action outweighs the potential for 28 any inconvenience, delay, or expense that consolidation could cause, because consolidation 1 || would avoid duplicative discovery and proceedings in these cases that are based on nearly 2 ||identical allegations, share common issues of law and fact, are in similar stages of 3 || development, and are pending in the same venue. See Huene v. U.S.,743 F.2d 703, 704 (9th 4 ||Cir. 1984), on reh’g, 753 F.2d 1081 (9th Cir. 1984) (district court “weighs the saving of 5 || time and effort consolidation would produce against any inconvenience, delay, or expense 6 || that it would cause’). In light of the Joint Motion, the Order to Show Cause regarding 7 || consolidation is hereby discharged. (See Doc. No. 33.) 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 Dated: February 10, 2026 © 10 Hon, Anthony J.Battaglia 11 United States District Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28