Kalarickal v. Wilkie
- Denise Cote
- 1:20-cv-10249
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kalarickal v. McDonough, Judge Broderick consolidated two related cases and closed moot fee-waiver motions.
Alexander Kalarickal, the government defendants in the two related actions, and the parties who must now make further filings in the consolidated case.
What happened
Kalarickal v. McDonough involved a case Alexander Kalarickal filed without a lawyer on December 3, 2020. He later filed a related case, and both cases involved the same alleged discriminatory conduct by the government.
The government asked the court to combine the cases. Kalarickal said he had no objection. The court found that the cases involved the same legal claims and that combining them would avoid unnecessary duplication.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick ordered the two cases consolidated and directed the parties to file future documents in this case. He also directed the clerk to close Kalarickal’s open motions seeking permission to proceed without paying filing fees in the related case because those motions were moot.
The detailed version
- Kalarickal v. Wilkie · No. 1:20-cv-10249
- Denise Cote
- Aug. 30, 2021
Background
Alexander Kalarickal filed this action without a lawyer on December 3, 2020. On February 8, 2021, he filed a related action in the same court, numbered 21-cv-1043. The opinion states that both actions asserted the same causes of action arising from the government’s allegedly discriminatory conduct against Kalarickal.
Consolidation request
The government filed a letter asking the court to consolidate the two actions. The court directed Kalarickal to respond, and he stated that he had no objection to consolidation. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a) allows a court to combine separate actions that involve common legal or factual questions. The court explained that consolidation can reduce repetition and conserve judicial resources.
Ruling
The court ordered that this action and case number 21-cv-1043 be consolidated. It directed the parties to make any further filings on this docket and directed the clerk to post notices on both dockets referring to the consolidation and the order.
Because the cases were consolidated, the court also directed the clerk to close the open motions in case number 21-cv-1043 in which Kalarickal sought permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The court stated that those motions were moot. The order addressed consolidation and the related filing-fee motions; it did not rule on the alleged discrimination claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.