Abe's Free Flow, Inc. v. City of Mishawaka, Ind.

55 F. Supp. 2d 908, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10062, 1999 WL 455443
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 11, 1999
Docket1:97-cv-00242
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 55 F. Supp. 2d 908 (Abe's Free Flow, Inc. v. City of Mishawaka, Ind.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abe's Free Flow, Inc. v. City of Mishawaka, Ind., 55 F. Supp. 2d 908, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10062, 1999 WL 455443 (N.D. Ind. 1999).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

MILLER, District Judge.

This cause is before the court on the motion of defendant City of Mishawaka, and the cross-motion of plaintiff Abe’s Free Flow, for summary judgment. Abe’s alleges that the City discriminated against it and violated antitrust laws by passing an ordinance dealing with the inspection of new sewer lines. The City maintains that no constitutional violations occurred by its enactment of the sewer ordinance and that it is exempt from the antitrust laws.

Facts

The parties have stipulated to the following facts: Before a newly constructed sewer system may be connected to the Mishawaka Utilities public sewer system, a permit is required and approval from the City is necessary. New systems containing 8" or larger sewers also require a video inspection of the system to obtain a permit and approval from the City. Before the City’s December 1995 enactment of Sewer Use Ordinance 4077 (“the Ordinance”), property owners who sought to connect new 8" or larger sewers to the Mishawaka Utilities public sewer system could contract with a qualified private contractor to perform a video inspection of the new sewer system. Abe’s and other private companies provided video inspection services for new sewer lines. After the Ordinance’s enactment, property owners who want to connect newly constructed 8" or larger systems to the Mishawaka Utilities system must obtain a video inspection of the new sewer system from the City or its authorized agent.

Section 1002(C) of the Ordinance, as amended on July 15, 1996, specifically provides:

All newly constructed sanitary sewers 8" or larger shall be video inspected by the City Sewer Maintenance Department or their authorized agent. Fees for video inspection shall be paid to the City Engineering Department at the time of permit application for deposit in the Wastewater Department of Mishawaka Utilities in accordance with the following schedule:
1,000 Linear Foot Minimum $550.00
1,000 Linear Foot & Greater $0.55 per Lineal Foot
*911 Projects or services performed for Governmental units may be exempt from these fees.

Abe’s maintains thht the Ordinance violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, because Abe’s is denied its liberty interest to pursue a lawful occupation and its freedom to contract, that the Ordinance amounts to a deprivation of equal protection as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, that the Ordinance violates federal antitrust laws, and that the Ordinance violates certain provisions of the Indiana Constitution and various Indiana statutes. The City seeks summary judgment as to all of Abe’s claims. Abe’s has filed its own summary judgment motion in response.

Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Rule 56(e) “mandates entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an essential element to that party’s case, and on which the party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” “Where the nonmoving party fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial .. .there can be no ‘genuine issue of material fact,’ since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.”
Although the moving party must initially identify the basis for its contention that no genuine issue of material fact exists, the nonmoving party cannot rest on his pleadings, but must produce his own evidence. Rule 56(e) requires that the nonmoving party who bears the burden of proof on an issue allege specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial by his own affidavits or by the depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file ....
In considering whether there are any genuine issues of material fact we view the record and extract all reasonable inferences from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. However, the nonmoving party “must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Where a fact is disputed, the nonmoving party must show that the disputed fact is material under the applicable law. The applicable law will dictate which facts are material. Only disputes that could affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment.

National Soffit & Escutcheons, Inc. v. Superior Sys., Inc., 98 F.3d 262, 264-265 (7th Cir.1996) (citations omitted).

Occupational Liberty Interest Under the Due Process Clause

Abe’s asserts that the Ordinance has deprived it of its recognized constitutional liberty interest to carry on a lawful occupation: providing video inspections of new sewer systems. Abe’s claims that because it no longer can contract with sewer construction contractors to provide video inspections for newly constructed sewers in Mishawaka, it has been deprived of much more .than a “specific job.” Abe’s maintains that it has “a legitimate expectation of the liberty to pursue the lawful occupation of performing video sewer inspections in the City of Mishawaka.”

The City argues that passage of the Ordinance in question did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. The City cites Wroblewski v. City of Washburn, 965 F.2d 452 (7th Cir.1992), for the proposition that the Fourteenth Amendment secures the right to pursue a *912 calling or occupation, but not the right to a specific job. The City admits that the Ordinance effectively excludes Abe’s from a specific job, but maintains that the Ordinance has not excluded Abe’s from pursuing its occupation.

The concept of liberty exercised through the Fourteenth Amendment includes the liberty to pursue an occupation or profession. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972); Wroblewski v. City of Washburn, 965 F.2d 452 (7th Cir.1992). While the “concept of liberty in Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence has long included the liberty to follow a trade, profession, or other calling[, t]his liberty must not be confused with the right to a job.” Lawson v. Sheriff of Tippecanoe County, Ind.,

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55 F. Supp. 2d 908, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10062, 1999 WL 455443, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abes-free-flow-inc-v-city-of-mishawaka-ind-innd-1999.