Rule 20. Permissive Joinder of Parties
(a) Permissive Joinder. All persons may join in one action as plaintiffs if they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or in the alternative in respect of or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences and if any question of law or fact common to all these persons will arise in the action. A plaintiff need not be interested in obtaining all the relief demanded. Where two or more plaintiffs demand separate judgments, the complaint shall state the judgment demanded by each plaintiff, shall list the plaintiffs alphabetically in the caption on the basis of surnames where individuals are involved, and shall assign to each plaintiff demanding a separate judgment a number to be used as a distinguishing subnumeral, e.g., (1), (2), etc., to the docket number of the case. Judgment may be given for one or more of the plaintiffs according to their respective rights to relief.
(1) To add additional plaintiff(s) to a pending action, counsel for plaintiff(s) shall file a Notice of Additional Plaintiff(s), listing the plaintiff(s). The notice shall utilize the caption of the original complaint. The plaintiff(s) to be added shall be listed alphabetically in the notice and assigned a subnumeral that continues the subnumerals of the complaint or preceding amended complaint, so that the subnumerals are consecutive throughout.
(2) The written consent of these individuals added to any pending action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act shall accompany the notice.
(b) Separate Trials. The court may make such orders as will prevent a party from being embarrassed, delayed, or put to expense, and may order separate trials or make other orders to prevent delay or prejudice.
References in Text
The Fair Labor Standards Act, referred to in subd. (a)(2), probably means the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, act June 25, 1938, ch. 676,