2001-01-26 Harley-Davidson Response - Minnesota Judicial Branch

In a case directly on point, the Minnesota Court of Appeals recognized that consolidation is
improper and prejudicial where the actions giving rise to the various claims occurred on separate
dates and therefore necessarily involved separate and distinct factual determinations. Green v. City
of Coon Ranids, 485 N.W.2d 712 (Minn. App. 1992). Green involved numerous claims by
individuals who alleged they were exposed to elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide at an ice arena
operated by the City of Coon Rapids. The alleged exposure occurred on several different dates.
Resolution of the claims therefore required separate factual determination of the conditions in the
arena on the days visited by each claimant. The Court properly recognized it would be too
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confusing and prejudicial to consolidate the claims due to the separate factual determinations
required:
Id. at 718.
In denying the plaintiffs’ motion to consolidate, the trial court stated the
decision rested upon the same grounds as those cited by the trial court in denying
the motion to proceed as a class. The court found it crucial that evidence showed
conditions at the arena varied fi-om day to day and from event to event. The trial
court thus concluded that whether the city’s negligence caused harm on any given
day could be resolved only by considering the circumstances surrounding the day
on which a claimant visited the arena. . .
. . .The case is unique because a group of claimants allege similar kinds of
exposures, but on a number of individual occasions. The numerous claims, the
differing conditions associated with each exposure, and the great quantity of
evidence specific to each individual plaintiff could be unduly confusing in a single
trial. The trial court did not err.
In another case directly on point, the Supreme Court for New York County, New York ’
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rejected an attempt by the claimants to improperly consolidate multiple claims * lving unique
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and independent issues of fact. Korren v. Eli Lillv & Comnanv, 568 N.Y.S.2d 670 (1990). Korren
involved multiple claims against manufacturers of the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) to recover for
injuries allegedly caused by ingestion of DES during pregnancy. Claimants sought to consolidate
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