Opinion
No. 08 C 110.
January 8, 2008
MEMORANDUM ORDER
By sheer chance this District Court's random assignment system has delivered this action to this Court's calendar just two days before the same plaintiff (Jason Blahnik ["Blahnik"]) and the same lawyer (Alex Hageli ["Hageli"]) are due to file a response to a Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 motion for sanctions in a now-dismissed putative class action that had also been assigned to this Court's calendar at random: Blahnik v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 07 C 4344. That coincidence led this Court to inquire of its minute clerk as to whether Blahnik and his counsel might be serial filers under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("Act") — and sure enough, that inquiry turned up three other actions that Blahnik had filed using the same "on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated" locution:
07 C 4341, Blahnik v. Subway Sandwiches Salads
07 C 6193, Blahnik v. Roccovino II, Inc.
07 C 6973, Blahnik v. AJW Pizza, Inc.
Apart from those cases providing some insight as to Blahnik's culinary preferences, their dockets disclose somewhat of a pattern:
1. In Case No. 07 C 4341, assigned to Honorable Joan Gottschall, the docket reflected an individual settlement and dismissal within two months after filing.
2. In Case No. 07 C 6193, assigned to Honorable Robert Dow, Jr., once again an individual settlement and dismissal occupied just two months after the original filing.
3. In Case No. 07 C 6973, assigned to Honorable Matthew Kennelly, the lawsuit has been pending for just under one month.
Because the Complaint in this action appears to set out a facially viable claim, this Court is contemporaneously issuing its customary initial scheduling order (including the setting of an initial status hearing date). At that time attorney Hageli will be expected to address, among other matters, the question whether the track record of Blahnik (and perhaps of Hageli as well) supports the serious consideration of either or both of them as class representatives.