USDA repeated-litigation chronology
After federal case C049 was dismissed on procedural (fee/IFP) grounds in March 2025, Tufano filed a concurrent state complaint (C010) and, over the following year, two more federal complaints against USDA/Weiwei Lu (C060 and C073). The R&R that closed C060 in June 2026 expressly identifies C073, in its own footnote, as "raising the identical claims brought in this action."
The C060 R&R's own footnote 1, read directly from the govinfo.gov filing, naming C073 and quoting it as raising identical claims to C060.
Research assessment
The court-quoted identical-claims relationship between C060 and C073 is a verified, direct-source finding, not an inference. C049's dismissal was procedural (fee/IFP noncompliance), not a merits or frivolousness ruling, and is weaker evidence than the C060/C073 quote. C010 remains an open, unresolved state case.
Important caveat
C073 itself remains "Research pending": every independently attempted source for its own docket has failed (PacerMonitor 429; Justia, CourtListener/RECAP, Trellis, and DocketBird all 403; UniCourt 404). This entry documents only what the C060 R&R's footnote says about C073, not anything independently verified about C073's own claims, defendants, or status.
Cases in this sequence
Timeline
Tufano filed federal complaint C049 against the USDA and Weiwei Lu.
Source — pacermonitor.com ↗C049 was dismissed without prejudice for failure to comply with a Feb. 12, 2025 order directing Tufano to pay the $405 filing fee or amend his in forma pauperis application -- a procedural (fee/IFP) dismissal, not a merits or frivolousness finding.
Source — pacermonitor.com ↗Tufano filed C010 in Lackawanna County against USDA and Weiwei Lu, roughly two months after C049 was dismissed on procedural grounds.
Source — lpa-homes.org ↗Tufano filed a second federal complaint, C060, against USDA and Weiwei Lu.
Source — pacermonitor.com ↗Tufano filed C073 against the USDA. C073 itself remains Research pending and has been fully blocked to every attempted independent source (PacerMonitor 429; Justia, CourtListener/RECAP, Trellis, and DocketBird all 403; UniCourt 404) -- this row records only the confirmed filing date and that a later court order (see LT085) identifies it as a companion to C060.
Source — pacermonitor.com ↗The district court adopted Magistrate Judge Latella's R&R and dismissed C060 without prejudice as a construed voluntary dismissal under FRCP 41. The R&R's own footnote 1 identifies the companion action as 3:26-cv-01018 (C073), describing it as "raising the identical claims brought in this action."
Source — govinfo.gov ↗