Opinion
Case No. 3:20-cv-00670-GMN-CLB
12-03-2020
TONY ALLEN PRESSLER, Plaintiff v. COUNTY OF ELKO et al., Defendants
ORDER
I. DISCUSSION
Defendant Elko County has filed a petition for removal and request for consolidation. (ECF No. 1 at 1). In the petition for removal, Defendant has attempted to remove three different state court actions initiated by the same Plaintiff into this one federal case. (Id. at 2-4). Additionally, Defendant requests that the Court screen all three operative complaints in the three different state court actions and suggests that the Court consolidate all three of these cases into one action in federal district court. (Id.)
The Court finds that the instant case has been opened in error. Defendant is attempting to remove three state court actions into one federal action and is attempting to consolidate these actions on its own. The removal statutes permit defendants to remove one "civil action" at a time to federal court. See generally 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). Moreover, it is the purview of this Court, and not the Defendant, to decide whether to consolidate multiple actions. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 42. Accordingly, the Court finds that Defendant has attempted to erroneously remove three state court actions into one case. The Court administratively closes this action, remands the cases back to state court, and directs Defendant to properly remove the state court actions individually before moving for consolidation. /// ///
II. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Clerk of the Court is directed to administratively close this case and remand the three state court actions back to state court.
DATED THIS 3 day of December 2020.
/s/_________
Gloria M. Navarro, Judge
United States District Court
See ECF Nos. 1-1, 1-3, 1-5.