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's own docket remains unreachable: every independently attempted source has failed (PacerMonitor 429 on direct fetch and 403 in a live browser; Justia unresolved bot-challenge; CourtListener/RECAP holds only a docket shell with zero entries; Trellis and DocketBird 403; UniCourt 404). What this entry documents about C073 comes from the C060 R&R read directly -- that C073 raises the identical claims, was fee-paid, and had an Amended Complaint filed at Doc. 4 on 2026-04-28 -- not from anything independently verified on C073's own docket. Its current status is unverified.
Cases in this sequence
Timeline
Tufano filed federal complaint C049 against the USDA and Weiwei Lu.
Source — courtlistener.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 — courtlistener.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 — courtlistener.com ↗Tufano filed C073 against the USDA. C073's own docket remains unreachable to every independently attempted source (PacerMonitor 429 on direct fetch and 403 in a live browser; Justia unresolved bot-challenge; CourtListener/RECAP holds only a docket shell with zero entries; Trellis and DocketBird 403; UniCourt 404), so its current status is still unverified. What is court-sourced, from the C060 R&R read directly: C073 was filed 2026-04-20 raising the identical claims brought in C060, the full filing fee was paid rather than proceeding in forma pauperis, and an Amended Complaint was filed at Doc. 4 on 2026-04-28. Its assigned judge is Magistrate Judge Leo A. Latella.
Source — courtlistener.com ↗Eight days after filing C073, Tufano filed an Amended Complaint in that action at Doc. 4. This is recorded in footnote 1 of the C060 Report and Recommendation, which also states that C073 raises the identical claims brought in C060 and that Tufano paid the full filing fee there rather than proceeding in forma pauperis.
Source — govinfo.gov ↗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 ↗Primary source
Open primary source — govinfo.gov ↗Cite this page
Frank Tufano Litigation Research. "USDA repeated-litigation chronology". Research last verified August 23, 2026. https://suedbyfranktufano.com/research/usda-repeated-litigation-chronology/