Federal Judge Rules against the Consolidation of Plaintiffs in Baycol MDL

MINNEAPOLIS-A motion submitted by the class members of the Baycol Multidisrict Litigation that sought to allow the consolidation of 50 plaintiffs per complaint was denied on grounds that each plaintiff's claims are not based on the same basic set of facts. In re: Baycol Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1431 (D. Minn.).

The motion stated that the procedure of consolidation, also known as bundling, was permitted in accordance with Federal Rules for Civil Procedure 42(a), and would reduce filing costs, help ease the administrative duties of plaintiff counsel and accommodate plaintiff participation in the MDL.

The pretrial order signed July …