(February 18, 2020, 12:57 PM EST) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) on Feb. 5 refused to consolidate and centralize 21 lawsuits brought by sex trafficking victims against a number of different hotel owners, franchisors and franchisees under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), finding that unique issues regarding each plaintiff’s allegations predominate and that there is no common defendant across all of the lawsuits (In re: Hotel Industry Sex Trafficking Litigation, MDL 2928, JPMDL, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19882)....