Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. City of Seattle

274 F. Supp. 3d 1140
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedApril 4, 2017
DocketNo. C17-0370RSL
StatusPublished

This text of 274 F. Supp. 3d 1140 (Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. City of Seattle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. City of Seattle, 274 F. Supp. 3d 1140 (W.D. Wash. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

Robert S. Lasnik, United States District Judge

This matter comes before the Court on “Plaintiffs Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction.” Dkt. #2. In ruling on this motion, the Court has also considered the request for preliminary injunctive relief filed by individual for-hire drivers in Clark v. City of Seattle, C17-0382RSL. Having reviewed the memoranda, declarations, and exhibits submitted in both cases and having heard the arguments of counsel for the Chamber, the Clark plaintiffs, and the City, the Court finds as follows:

In January 2016, City of Seattle Ordinance 124968 came into, effect. The Ordinance provides a mechanism through which for-hire drivers can collectively bargain with the companies that hire, contract with, and/or partner with them. Dkt. # 39-1. Pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Ordinance, Teamsters Local 117 gave notice to twelve “driver coordinators” that it seeks to represent their drivers in collective bargaining. Dkt. #39-1 at 7. The driver coordinators had until April 3, 2017, to provide the names, contact information, and license numbers of their drivers to the union so that it may solicit their interest in collective representation by the Teamsters.1 Three of the driver coordinators, Eastside For Hire, Inc., Lyft, Inc., and Uber Technologies, Inc., are members of the plaintiff Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber seeks to enjoin enforcement of the Ordinance, arguing that it violates and is preempted by federal antitrust law and is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). The Clark plaintiffs argue that the Ordinance should be enjoined because it is preempted by the NLRA and violates the First Amendment and the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act,

Although the procedure for obr taming a temporary restraining order differs from that which is applicable in the preliminary injunction context, the factors considered by the Court are the same. In order to obtain preliminary injunctive relief; plaintiff must establish “that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council, 555 U.S. 7, 20, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008). In the Ninth Circuit, “if a plaintiff can only show that there are serious questions going to the merits—a lesser showing than likelihood of success on the merits—then a preliminary injunction may still issue if the balance' of hardships tips sharply in the' plaintiffs favor, and the other two Winter factors are satisfied.” Feldman v. Ariz. Sec, of State’s Office, 843 F.3d 366, 375 (9th Cir. 2016) (quoting Shell Offshore, Inc. v. Greenpeace, Inc., 709 F.3d 1281, 1291 (9th Cir. 2013)) (internal quotation marks omitted, emphasis in original).

A. Antitrust Claim

The judicial power of the federal courts extends to “Cases” and “Controversies” pursuant to Article. Ill, Sec. 2 of the [1146]*1146United States Constitution. An Article III case or controversy exists if plaintiff can show that “(1) it has suffered an ‘injury in fact’ that is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual and imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical; (2) the injury is fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant^; and (3) it is likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will- be redressed by a favorable decision.” Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 180-81, 120 S.Ct. 693, 145 L.Ed.2d 610 (2000) (quoting Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992)). An association, such as the-Chamber, “has standing to bring suit on behalf of its' members when: (a) its members would otherwise have standing to sue in their own right; (b). the interests it seeks to protect are germane to the organization’s purpose; and (c) neither the claim asserted nor the relief requested requires the participation of individual members in the lawsuit.” Hunt v. Wash. State Apple Advertising Comm’n, 432 U.S. 333, 343, 97 S.Ct. 2434, 53 L.Ed.2d 383 (1977).

Section 16 of the Clayton Act, which governs, claims for injunctive relief, provides in part.that “[ajny person, firm, corporation, or association shall be entitled to sue for and have injunctive relief ... against threatened loss or damage by a violation of the antitrust laws.,..” 15 U.S.C. § 26. By its very terms, § 16 authorizes suits by associations, but it, like every other private litigant, “must have standing—in the words of § 16, [it] must prove “threatened loss- or damage” to [its] own interests in order to obtain relief.” Cal. v. Am. Stores Co., 495 U.S. 271, 296, 110 S.Ct. 1853, 109 L.Ed.2d 240 (1990). The Supreme Court- has found that “[i]t would be anomalous .to read the Clayton Act to authorize a private plaintiff to secure an injunction against a threatened injury for which he would not be entitled to compensation if the injury actually occurred” and that Congress did not intend such a result. Cargill, Inc. v. Monfort of Colo., Inc., 479 U.S. 104, 111, 107 S.Ct. 484, 93 L.Ed.2d 427 (1986). Personal injury is therefore a prerequisite to instituting a private antitrust action—regardless of whether monetary or injunctive relief is sought.2

Nevertheless, the Court will assume, for purposes of this motion only, that although the Chamber itself does not face a “threatened loss or damage,” it may sue on behalf of its members if it can satisfy the three-part Hunt test. See Sw. Suburban Bd. of Realtors, Inc, v. Beverly Area Planning Ass’n, 830 F.2d 1374, 1380-81 (7th Cir. 1987). The City does not dispute that the Chamber’s interests in this litigation are germane to its organizational purposes, but argues that the antitrust claim cannot be pursued without the participation of individual members in the lawsuit. Hunt, 432 U.S. at 343, 97 S.Ct. 2434. The Chamber has the burden of proving that its members, Eastside, Uber, and Lyft, have suffered antitrust injury, which is “injury of the type the antitrust laws were intended to prevent and which flows from that which makes defendants’ acts unlawful.” Atl. Richfield Co. v. USA Petroleum Co., 495 U.S. 328, 334, 110 S.Ct. 1884, 109 L.Ed.2d 333 (1990) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Simply [1147]*1147showing “injury causally linked to an illegal presence in the market” will not suffice if the injury flows from aspects of the Ordinance that are beneficial or neutral to competition. Id.; Rebel Oil Co. v. Atl. Richfield Co., 51 F.3d 1421, 1433 (9th Cir. 1995).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
274 F. Supp. 3d 1140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chamber-of-commerce-of-the-united-states-v-city-of-seattle-wawd-2017.