Green Solutions Recycling, LLC v. Reno Disposal Co.

359 F. Supp. 3d 960
District Court, D. Nevada·Decided January 7, 2019·No. Case No. 3:16-cv-00334-MMD-CBC·Published

Opinion

MIRANDA M. DU, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. SUMMARY

This case is about the City of Reno's authority to grant a monopoly for the collection and disposal of certain recyclable materials. Plaintiff Green Solutions Recycling, LLC ("GSR") contends that the City has no such authority and unlawfully has restrained trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 ("Act"). Before the Court are three motions for summary judgment: (1) Defendants Reno Disposal Company, Inc. ("Reno Disposal") and Waste Management of Nevada, Inc.'s ("WMON") motion for summary judgment regarding lack of subject matter jurisdiction/standing ("Defendants' Jurisdictional Motion") (ECF No. 105); Defendants Reno Disposal and WMON's motion for summary judgment regarding enforceability of franchise agreement ("Defendants' Merits Motion") (ECF No. 106); and Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment ("Plaintiff's Motion") (ECF No. 113).1 The Court has reviewed the relevant briefing (ECF Nos. 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126) and held a hearing on these motions on December 18, 2018 (ECF No. 134). For the following reasons, the Court denies Defendants' Jurisdictional Motion, grants Defendants'

*965Merits Motion, and denies Plaintiff's Motion.

II. BACKGROUND2

Nevada law allows the City to "[g]rant an exclusive franchise to any person" for the "[c]ollection and disposal of garbage and other waste." NRS §§ 268.081, 268.083. Accordingly, the City entered into an exclusive franchise agreement with Reno Disposal on November 7, 2012. (ECF No. 113 at 2; ECF No. 106 at 6.) The City entered into a second exclusive franchise agreement with another entity, but Reno Disposal eventually acquired the franchise rights under that agreement as well. (ECF No. 106 at 6.) The Court refers to both franchise agreements as the "Franchise Agreement." The Franchise Agreement basically grants Reno Disposal the exclusive right to pick up and remove solid waste and certain recyclable materials from commercial entities, although the Franchise Agreement uses a number of terms of art that are defined in the Franchise Agreement itself. (Id. at 10; see also ECF No. 113-1 at 15.)

Plaintiff contracted with various commercial entities in the City to pick up and remove certain recyclable materials from their premises. (ECF No. 113 at 4.) Plaintiff operates by providing its customers with recycling containers in exchange for payment offset by a rebate. (ECF No. 106 at 12, 17.) For example, Plaintiff charged one customer $ 440 per bin each month and provided that customer with a rebate of $ 2.52 per bin each month. (Id. at 17.)

The City eventually took the position that Plaintiff was violating the Franchise Agreement based on its view that Plaintiff's customers were essentially paying for Plaintiff to remove waste when Reno Disposal had the exclusive rights to remove waste. (See ECF No. 113 at 4.) The City informed Plaintiff's counsel that Plaintiff could pick up and remove certain recyclable materials without violating the Franchise Agreement only if Plaintiff's customers actually sold the recyclable materials instead of paying for them to be removed. (Id. ) In other words, Plaintiff's customers were essentially required to realize a net profit from the arrangement, and thus the rebate would have to exceed the container rental charges. (See id. ) The City informed some of Plaintiff's customers that the customers were violating the Franchise Agreement. (Id. at 5.) In addition, counsel for Reno Disposal and WMON sent demand letters to some of Plaintiff's customers asserting that the customers were violating the Franchise Agreement. (ECF No. 113 at 7.)

Plaintiff asserts five claims for relief in its First Amended Complaint ("FAC"): (1) violation of Section 1 of the Act; (2) violation of the Commerce Clause under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ; (3) violation of the Nevada Unfair Trade Practices Act, NRS § 598A.060 ; (4) tortious interference with contractual relationship; and (5) trespass to chattels. (ECF No. 48 at 7-11.) The Court has already dismissed Plaintiff's second claim for relief. (ECF No. 86 at 236.)

III. LEGAL STANDARD

"The purpose of summary judgment is to avoid unnecessary trials when there is no dispute as to the facts before the court." Nw. Motorcycle Ass'n v. U.S. Dep't of Agric. , 18 F.3d 1468, 1471 (9th Cir. 1994). Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits "show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law."

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Green Solutions Recycling, LLC v. Reno Disposal Co., 359 F. Supp. 3d 960 (D. Nev. 2019).

359 F. Supp. 3d 960 (Green Solutions Recycling, LLC v. Reno Disposal Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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