Marvaso v. Sanchez ( 2021 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION GEORGE MARVASO, MARY MARVASO, GEORGE F. MARVASO, and SUNDAY GAINS, Civil Case No. 18-12193 Plaintiffs, Honorable Linda V. Parker v RICHARD SANCHEZ, Defendant, _________________________________/ GEORGE MARVASO, MARY MARVASO, and GEORGE F. MARVASO, Plaintiffs, Civil Case No. 18-12442 v Honorable Linda V. Parker JOHN ADAMS, MICHAEL J. REDDY, and MICHAEL J. REDDY SR., Defendants. / ORDER CONSOLIDATING CASES AND ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSING CIVIL CASE NO. 18-12442 The above-captioned civil rights actions, filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988, arise from a May 8, 2013 fire at a restaurant in Westland, Michigan. On July 13, 2018, George Marvaso, Mary Marvaso. George F. Marvaso, and Sandy Gaines, through attorney Wolfgang Mueller of the Mueller Law Firm, initiated one of these lawsuits against Richard Sanchez, a Detective-Sergeant with the Michigan State Police Department, Civil Case No. 18-12193. On August 7, 2018, George F. Marvaso, Mary Marvaso, Sunday Gaines, George Marvaso, and Electric Stick, Inc., acting pro se, filed a second lawsuit against John Adams, Michael J. Reddy, Jr., and Michael J. Reddy, Sr., Wayne-Westland current or former officials, Civil Case No. 18-12442. Attorney Mueller and his law firm now represent Plaintiffs in this latter case. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a)(2) provides that a court may consolidate actions involving “a common question of law or fact.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a)(1); Cantrell v. GAF Corp., 999 F.2d 1007, 1011 (6th Cir. 1993). The objective of consolidation is to administer the court’s business with expedition and economy while providing justice to the parties. Advey v. Celotex Corp., 962 F.2d 1177, 1181 (6th Cir. 1992). Where, as here, the cases are “functionally equivalent[,]” enabling them to proceed separately will result in largely duplicative and inefficient efforts. Neither party will be prejudiced by consolidation, and in fact the parties agree that consolidation is proper. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that these matters are CONSOLIDATED, with Civil Case No. 18-12193 being the lead case. Civil Case No. 18-12442 is ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSED. All future filings shall be docketed solely in Civil Case No. 18-12193. IT IS SO ORDERED. s/ Linda V. Parker LINDA V. PARKER U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE Dated: January 7, 2021