Opinion
No.3:11-cv-00433 No.3:11-cv-00451 No.3:11-cv-00601
12-28-2011
NORFOLK COUNTY RETIREMENT SYSTEM, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, et al., Plaintiffs, v. COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC., WAYNE T. SMITH, and W. LARRY CASH, Defendants. DE ZHENG, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, et al., Plaintiffs, v. COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC., WAYNE T. SMITH, and LARRY CASH, Defendants. MINNEAPOLIS FIREFIGHTERS' RELIEF ASSOCIATION, on behalf of itself and all others similarly situated, et al., Plaintiffs, v. COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC., WAYNE T. SMITH, LARRY CASH, and THOMAS MARK BUFORD, Defendants.
Judge Nixon
Magistrate Judge Knowles
JURY DEMAND
ORDER
This matter is before the Court on three Motions by certain Plaintiffs in Case Number 3:11-cv-00433 to consolidate the above-captioned actions, appoint a lead plaintiff, and approve the selection of lead counsel. The three Motions are brought by General Retirement System of the City of Detroit ("Detroit") (Doc. No. 22), NYC Funds (Doc. No. 23), and jointly by Alberta Investment Management Corp. and State-Boston Retirement System ("Alberta/Boston") (Doc. No. 29). Each of these Plaintiffs or group of Plaintiffs seeks to be named lead Plaintiff and to have its selected counsel be approved as lead counsel. Detroit subsequently filed a Notice that it does not oppose the Motions of NYC Funds or Alberta/Boston. (Doc. No. 43.) None of the other Plaintiffs or Defendants in any of the cases has filed an opposition to the Motions.
After reviewing the parties' numerous briefs, Magistrate Judge Knowles filed a Report and Recommendation ("Report"), recommending that the cases be consolidated, NYC Funds be appointed lead Plaintiff, and NYC Funds's selected counsel be approved as lead counsel. (Doc. No. 60.) The Report was filed on November 28, 2011. As the Report indicates, Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b), all parties had fourteen days after service of the Report to file written objections to Judge Knowles's recommendations. (Doc. No. 60 at 15-16.) No objections have been filed.
The Court finds the Report to be thorough and its recommendations to be well-founded. The Court therefore ADOPTS the Report in its entirety. The above-captioned cases are hereby CONSOLIDATED under the lead case 3:11-cv-00433, and all future filings are to be made in that action. The Court further DENIES Detroit's Motion (Doc. No. 22) and Alberta/Boston's Motion (Doc. No. 29). The Court GRANTS NYC Funds's Motion (Doc. No. 23), APPOINTS
NYC Funds as lead Plaintiff in the consolidated action, and APPROVES the counsel selected by NYC Funds as lead counsel.
It is so ORDERED.
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JOHN T. NIXON, SENIOR JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT