City of Rome, Georgia v. Hotels.com, L.P.

549 F. App'x 896
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedDecember 13, 2013
Docket12-14588
StatusUnpublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 549 F. App'x 896 (City of Rome, Georgia v. Hotels.com, L.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Rome, Georgia v. Hotels.com, L.P., 549 F. App'x 896 (11th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

HALL, District Judge:

Plaintiff City of Rome, on behalf of the certified class of over 250 cities and counties throughout Georgia (“the Localities”), appeals both the district court’s grant of summary judgment on its claims for back taxes allegedly owed by the defendant online travel companies (“OTCs”) and the district court’s imposition of sanctions for violation of its disclosure obligations under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a). The Localities argue that they are entitled to relief under O.C.G.A. § 48-13-50 et seq. (“the Enabling Statute”), as well as on their state common law claims. Alternatively, they propose that this Court certify a question to the Georgia Supreme Court regarding the precedential effect of two decisions relied upon by the District Court. However, because (1) the Localities failed to present evidence that the OTCs actually collected excess taxes, (2) state law clearly precludes relief, and (3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c), we deny the Localities’ request to certify the proposed question and affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

This class action is one of several cases brought by various counties and municipalities across the state challenging how OTCs calculate the appropriate hotel occupancy tax under the Enabling Statute. The Localities are a certified class consisting of all but two cities and counties in Georgia that have enacted excise tax ordi *899 nances pursuant to the Enabling Statute. 1 The OTCs are a group of online travel companies that offer online travel services that help consumers, among other things, book hotel reservations throughout the state of Georgia.

At issue in the case is the OTCs’ business model, specifically, their method of calculating and remitting the appropriate amount of local occupancy taxes under the Enabling Statute. The OTCs contract with hotels to purchase hotel rooms at a negotiated “wholesale” rate. They then sell these rooms to consumers at a higher “retail” rate. At the time of sale, the customer is charged a single amount consisting of the retail rate and an additional amount which the OTCs characterize as “taxes and fees.” 2 The hotels then invoice the OTCs for the negotiated “wholesale rate” plus any taxes applicable to the “wholesale” price. The hotels then remit the taxes due under the Enabling Statute to the appropriate city or county. The Localities allege that the OTCs have violated the Enabling Statute by failing to pay the local occupancy tax on the retail rate charged to customers. They seek to recover unpaid occupancy taxes from the OTCs on these transactions.

After more than five years of litigation, the parties entered into a partial settlement agreement. The OTCs agreed to pay an initial sum corresponding to the excess taxes 3 owed on all transactions occurring after May 16, 2011, as well as, to collect and remit occupancy taxes on the retail rate on all future transactions. However, the settlement agreement expressly reserved for judicial resolution the OTCs’ liability for back taxes owed on all transactions prior to May 16, 2011.

On those claims, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the OTCs. It concluded that the Localities failed to present evidence showing that the OTCs actually collected, but failed to remit, taxes in non-breakage transactions 4 on the retail rate. It also held that Georgia law did not permit recovery of back taxes that the OTCs never collected. Finally, it excluded the Localities’ evidence of damages in breakage transactions 5 because the Localities failed to disclose computations of breakage damages required under Rule 26(a).

The Localities argue that the district court erred in granting the OTCs motion for summary judgment. First, the Localities assert that there was sufficient evidence to present a jury question on whether the OTCs actually collected but failed to remit taxes on the retail rate. Second, the Localities contend that the OTCs are liable for back taxes they never collected pursuant to City of Atlanta v. Hotels.com, 289 Ga. 323, 710 S.E.2d 766 (2011). Third, the *900 Localities argue that City of Atlanta and Expedia, Inc. v. City of Columbus, 285 Ga. 684, 681 S.E.2d 122 (2009), do not preclude all legal and equitable relief for back taxes in this case. Fourth, the Localities request that we certify a question to the Georgia Supreme Court. Fifth, the Localities assert that the district court abused its discretion in imposing sanctions under Rule 37 for the Localities’ failure to comply with them disclosure obligations under Rule 26.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This appeal is governed by two standards of review. First, this Court reviews de novo a district court’s grant of summary judgment and applies the same standards applied by the district court. Acevedo v. First Union Nat’l Bank, 357 F.3d 1244, 1246-47 (11th Cir.2004) (citing Valley Drug Co. v. Geneva Pharm., Inc., 344 F.3d 1294, 1303 (11th Cir.2003)). A motion for summary judgment is properly granted when “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). On a summary judgment motion, the record and all reasonable inferences must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Nat’l Fire Ins. Co. of Hartford v. Fortune Constr. Co., 320 F.3d 1260, 1267 (11th Cir.2003). “When reviewing a grant of summary judgment, we may affirm on any adequate ground, regardless of whether the district court relied on that ground.” Eco Solutions, LLC v. Verde Biofuels, Inc., 518 Fed.Appx. 790, 791 (11th Cir.2013) (citing McCabe v. Sharrett, 12 F.3d 1558, 1560 (11th Cir.1994)).

Second, this Court reviews a district court’s imposition of sanctions pursuant to Rule 37 for abuse of discretion. See Chudasama v. Mazda Motor Corp.,

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549 F. App'x 896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-rome-georgia-v-hotelscom-lp-ca11-2013.