JPML Denies Motion Seeking MDL Docket for Hotel Sex Trafficking Lawsuits for Second Time

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– For the second time, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has denied efforts to create an MDL docket for hotel sex trafficking lawsuits, concluding that “the circumstances of this litigation have not appreciably changed since we last denied centralization.”

In the April 11 order, the JPML concluded that it remained “unconvinced that the actions share sufficient common factual questions to justify centralization.”

“There certainly may be common discovery concerning a particular hotel brand’s policies at a point in time, or knowledge of sex trafficking within the hotel industry, generally, or at a particular hotel brand’s properties,” …