Defendants Move to Stay Recently Filed Pennsylvania Class Action

PHILADELPHIA -- Defendants in a Pennsylvania welding rod class action have moved to stay proceedings, arguing the plaintiffs' claims are identical to those pending in the Welding Rod Products Liability Litigation MDL. Meehan v. Lincoln Electric, et al., No. 05-00302 (E.D. Pa.).

In a Jan. 25 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the defendants argue that the stay is necessary because the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has yet to make a decision on whether the complaint should be transferred to the Welding Rod Products MDL.

'In the absence of a stay, this …