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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20(a)(1) governs the joinder of plaintiffs in a lawsuit and uses a flexible standard that requires the plaintiffs to 'assert any right to relief . . . arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences' and there be a 'question of law or fact common to all plaintiffs.' Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(1)(A), (B). In the Eleventh Circuit, 'joinder is 'strongly encouraged' and the rules are construed generously 'toward entertaining the broadest possible scope of action consistent with fairness to the parties.'' Vanover v. NCO Fin. Servs. Inc., 857 F.3d 833, 839 (11th Cir. 2017) (quoting United Mine Workers of Am. v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 724, 86 S. Ct. 1130, 16 L. Ed. 2d 218 (1966)). District courts are granted 'broad discretion' when considering matters of joinder. Id.
Under the first part of Rule 20's test, transaction 'is a word of flexible meaning. It may comprehend a series of many occurrences, depending not so much upon the immediateness of their connection as upon their logical relationship.' Alexander v. Fulton Cnty., 207 F.3d 1303, 1323 (11th Cir. 2000), overruled on other grounds by Manders v. ...
