Cone Corp. v. Hillsborough County

848 F. Supp. 174, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4417, 1994 WL 121692
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedApril 5, 1994
DocketNo. 89-540-CIV-T-17A
StatusPublished

This text of 848 F. Supp. 174 (Cone Corp. v. Hillsborough County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cone Corp. v. Hillsborough County, 848 F. Supp. 174, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4417, 1994 WL 121692 (M.D. Fla. 1994).

Opinion

ORDER ON REMAND AND PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO AMEND

KOVACHEVICH, District Judge.

This cause is before the Court on remand from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals; Plaintiffs Motion to Amend, filed January 11, 1994 (Docket # 125); Memoranda in support thereof, filed January 11, 1994 (Docket # 126); Defendant’s Response, filed January 26, 1994 (Docket # 127); and Memoranda in support thereof, filed January 26, 1994 (Docket # 127).

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This is not the first time that this case has been before this Court. Initially, Plaintiffs filed their complaint on April 18, 1989 and it was amended on August 15, 1989. In the current complaint, Plaintiffs request declaratory and injunctive relief and allege that Hillsborough County is liable to Plaintiffs because its Resolution No. R88-1073, (herein called “MBE law”) the County’s policy for awarding construction contracts, injured Plaintiffs’ business or property. Plaintiffs argue that the County’s policy constitutes racial discrimination and is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs further allege that each Plaintiff’s business or property will also be injured in the future by Defendant’s discriminatory practices.

This Court granted Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, or in the alternative, Judgment on the Pleadings, or Summary Judgment for Lack of Standing. The Plaintiffs appealed.

Subsequently, the Court of Appeals affirmed this Court at 983 F.2d 197. The Court of Appeals eventually vacated that opinion and rehearing en banc was granted at 993 F.2d 784. On reconsideration, the Appellate Court held that Plaintiffs failed to allege any injury, to the extent that their claims arose from the County’s program which they found treated non-minorities and minorities alike. Therefore, the Court held that Plaintiffs lacked- standing to challenge the Defendant’s program. However, the Court of Appeals also held that remand was necessary for reconsideration in light of Northeastern Florida Chapter of the Assoc’d Gen. Contractors of Am. v. City of Jacksonville, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 2297, 124 L.Ed.2d 586 (1993) on the issue of whether Plaintiffs properly alleged injury “to their ability to compete stemming from operation of provision exempting minority contractors who complete more than 50% of the work ...” Cone Constructors, Inc. et al, v. Hillsborough County, 5 F.3d 1397 (11th Cir.1993)

ISSUES

The primary issues which are before this Court, as raised by the remand and pending Plaintiffs’ Motion to File a Second Complaint, are:

1) Whether Plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that their “injury in fact” actually stemmed from the provision of the “MBE law” (which provides for the reduction in the minority business enterprise (MBÉ) goal for minority general contractors who do more than 50% of the work themselves), because it treated minority and non-minority contractors differently, and thus have standing to bring such a claim?
2) Whether the Plaintiffs, should be granted leave to file a second amended complaint?

STANDARD

A plaintiff must sufficiently allege “injury in fact” to establish standing. The Eleventh Circuit has held that a court must make its determination by assessing the allegations in the complaint. Cone Corporation v. Florida Dept. of Transportation, 921 F.2d 1190 (11th Cir.1991). However, in considering whether a plaintiff has standing to bring a claim, the court may consider facts which go beyond [176]*176the complaint. Gladstone Realtors v. Village of Bellwood, 441 U.S. 91, 109, 99 S.Ct. 1601, 1612, 60 L.Ed.2d 66 (1979).

The Court of Appeals remanded this case in. light of Northeastern Florida Chapter of the Assoc’d Gen. Contractors of Am. v. City of Jacksonville, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 2297, 124 L.Ed.2d 686 (1993) which held that a plaintiff must allege “injury in fact” in an equal protection case of this variety. According to Jacksonville, this “injury in fact” must constitute the inability to compete on equal footing during the bidding process. Merely losing a contract, will not suffice. Id., 113 S.Ct. at 2303.

Similar to Jacksonville, this ease deals with a challenge by non-minority contractors to an affirmative action program.. The Eleventh Circuit states that it originally affirmed this Court’s decision to dismiss the complaint because the affirmative action program did not treat minority and non-minority contractors differently. However, the court went on to say that it may have “been too hasty” in affirming this Court’s decision because upon closer look, one provision of the County’s plan may in fact treat minority and non-minority contractors differently.

The remand order concerns the provision of the MBE law which provides for the reduction in the minority business enterprise (MBE) goal for minority general contractors who do more than 50% of the work themselves. The Eleventh Circuit reiterated that Plaintiffs must demonstrate “injury in fact” by asserting that a legally protected interest is invaded and is (a) “a concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical,” injury, pursuant to Jacksonville, — U.S. at -, 113 S.Ct. at 2302, quoting Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, - U.S. -, -, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 2137, 119 L.Ed.2d 361 (1992). Moreover, the court narrowed the issue on remand to whether Plaintiffs have in fact alleged any injury which constituted interference to their ability to compete stemming from the operation of the provision treating minority and non-minority contractors differently.

OPINION

In accordance with the remand, this Court has closely looked at both the record and the complaint to determine if Plaintiffs have sufficiently pled the elements enunciated by the Court of Appeals necessary to 'demonstrate standing pursuant to Jacksonville.

Based on examination of the “bare bones” complaint, it does not appear that Plaintiffs adequately alleged that their injury stemmed from the “MBE law.” Moreover, Plaintiffs fail to demonstrate «that the “MBE law” treats minority and non-minority contractors differently, thus causing the Plaintiffs injury in fact. In order to comply with the standard enunciated by the Court of Appeals, Plaintiffs must allege injury in fact, which must entail a barrier put in place by the government which impairs their ability to compete on equal footing with minority contractors.

Plaintiffs merely allege general injury to “business and property” in their scant complaint. Further, Plaintiffs mention future injury might be caused by the County’s “MBE law.” Plaintiffs should be well aware that alleged “future injury” is not a sufficient basis on which to state such an equal protection claim. If Plaintiffs insist on alleging only general injury to “business and property” and mere potential for “future injury,” they will not be able to avoid another dismissal by this Court. •

This order would not be complete without at least-a brief mention of rulings in cases decided recently that are similar to the case at bar. Jacksonville,

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Related

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
438 U.S. 265 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood
441 U.S. 91 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education
476 U.S. 267 (Supreme Court, 1986)
City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co.
488 U.S. 469 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife
504 U.S. 555 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Olsen v. Lane
832 F. Supp. 1525 (M.D. Florida, 1993)
Cone Constructors, Inc. v. Hillsborough County
5 F.3d 1397 (Eleventh Circuit, 1993)
Podberesky v. Kirwan
956 F.2d 52 (Fourth Circuit, 1992)
Ashley v. United States
508 U.S. 963 (Supreme Court, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
848 F. Supp. 174, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4417, 1994 WL 121692, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cone-corp-v-hillsborough-county-flmd-1994.