Adams v. Davis County

30 F. Supp. 3d 1267, 2014 WL 3192047, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91923
CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedJuly 7, 2014
DocketCase No. 1:13-CV-111 TS
StatusPublished

This text of 30 F. Supp. 3d 1267 (Adams v. Davis County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adams v. Davis County, 30 F. Supp. 3d 1267, 2014 WL 3192047, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91923 (D. Utah 2014).

Opinion

[1269]*1269MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER ON PENDING MOTIONS

TED STEWART, District Judge.

This mattér is before the Court on Defendant Davis County Towing Association’s (“DCTA”) Motion to Dismiss1 and Defendant Davis County’s (the “County”) Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.2 As discussed more fully below, the Court will grant Defendant Davis County’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and deny Defendant DCTA’s Motion to Dismiss as moot.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is a tow truck operator located in Kaysville, Utah. Defendant Davis County is a political subdivision of the State of Utah. Defendant DCTA is a corporation located in Davis County with membership comprised of some, but not all, tow truck operators in the county. Plaintiff is not a member of DCTA.

Plaintiffs Amended Complaint asserts antitrust claims arising from the County’s use of a towing-rotation list for its towing referrals. Plaintiff alleges that prior to 2011 the County excluded from the list any towing companies that were not members of the DCTA. After receiving complaints about the use of that list, Plaintiff was briefly placed back in the towing rotation, while the County ceased relying on the DCTA for its referrals.

In September 2011, the County implemented a new towing-rotation list. To be included on the new list, towing companies were required to submit an application to the County, who then determined whether to accept or reject applicants. Plaintiff alleges that the County continued to work with the DCTA in the creation of the towing-rotation list, and that the process “refleet[s] the requirement previously set forth by the [DCTA]”3 in addition to imposing “numerous expensive and discriminatory requirements which were not mandated for tow trucks or tow operators by either state or federal law.”4

Moreover, the County informed towing companies of the requirements for the new rotation list at a DCTA meeting and did not otherwise provide notice to non-members, such as Plaintiff.5 Plaintiff submitted an application to be included in the rotation in 2012, but was denied.6

Plaintiff also alleges that Defendant Davis County has refused to contact Plaintiff even when motorists specifically request Plaintiffs services. Thus, Plaintiff asserts claims against Defendants based on Plaintiffs alleged exclusion from both the consent and non-consent towing markets in the county.

Plaintiff filed suit with this Court, alleging claims under the Sherman Act and Utah Antitrust Act. On October 30, 2013, Defendant DCTA filed a Motion to Dismiss. On December 30, 2013, Defendant Davis County filed a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. In a separate motion filed on December 30, 2013, Defendant Davis County joined Defendant DCTA’s Motion to Dismiss in full.

II. DISCUSSION .

Defendants, move to dismiss Plaintiffs claims under Federal Rules of Civil Proce-. [1270]*1270dure 12(b)(1) and (6). A challenge to subject-matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) may take one of two forms. First, a party may bring a facial attack, which “looks only to the factual allegations of the complaint in challenging the court’s jurisdiction.”7 Second, a party may bring a factual attack, which “goes beyond the factual allegations of the complaint and presents evidence in the form of affidavits or otherwise to challenge the court’s jurisdiction.”8 Because Defendants make a facial attack, the same standard applies to Defendants’ 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) arguments.9

In considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under Rule 12(b)(6), all well-pleaded factual allegations, as distin-' guished from conclusory allegations, are accepted as true and viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff as the nonmov-ing party.10 Plaintiff must provide “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face,”11 which requires “more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully harmed-me accusation.”12 “A pleading that offers ‘labels and conclusions’ or ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.’ Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’ ”13

“The court’s function on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is not to weigh potential evidence that the parties might present at trial, but to assess whether the plaintiffs complaint alone is legally sufficient to state a claim for which relief may be granted.”14 As the Iqbal Court stated,

[OJnly a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss. Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will ... be a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense. But where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged — -but it has not shown — that the pleader is entitled to relief.15

Defendants argue that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this suit because Plaintiffs federal claims are pleaded with insufficient particularity. Defendants contend that Plaintiffs Complaint lacks factual support to demonstrate a nexus between Defendants’ allegedly illegal conduct and interstate commerce, the existence of an agreement, or an unreasonable restraint of trade. Defendants also argue that federal and state-based immunity doctrines bar Plaintiffs claims.

A. SHERMAN ACT CLAIMS

Section 1 of the- Sherman Act states, “Every contract, combination in the form [1271]*1271of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal.”16 Section 2 states, “Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of'the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty.17

“When Congress passed the Sherman Act in 1890, it took a narrow view of its power under the Commerce Clause. Subsequent decisions by [the U.S. Supreme Court] have permitted the reach of the Sherman Act to expand along with expanding notions of congressional power.”18 Although “ ‘[l]anguage more comprehensive is difficult to conceive,’ ”19 “[t]he jurisdictional inquiry under general prohibitions like ... the Sherman Act, turning as it does on the circumstances presented in each case and requiring a particularized judicial determination, differs significantly from that required when Congress itself has defined the specific persons and activities that affect commerce and therefore require federal regulation.”20

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Bluebook (online)
30 F. Supp. 3d 1267, 2014 WL 3192047, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91923, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adams-v-davis-county-utd-2014.