Hunt Paving Co. v. City of Indianapolis

800 F. Supp. 740, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12515, 1992 WL 203144
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedAugust 19, 1992
DocketNo. IP 90-1578-C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 800 F. Supp. 740 (Hunt Paving Co. v. City of Indianapolis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hunt Paving Co. v. City of Indianapolis, 800 F. Supp. 740, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12515, 1992 WL 203144 (S.D. Ind. 1992).

Opinion

ENTRY GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO LIABILITY

TINDER, District Judge.

Plaintiffs brought this action seeking to challenge the constitutionality of Defendants’ procedure for awarding municipal construction contracts. Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants’ affirmative action plan unlawfully denied Plaintiffs equal protection of the laws in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Defendants replied that Plaintiffs lacked standing to prosecute that claim and, alternatively, that Plaintiffs’ claims failed on the merits. Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Summary Judgment as to Liability; Defendants filed a Motion for [742]*742Summary Judgment seeking a judgment in Defendants’ favor on all claims stated by both Plaintiffs. The parties have exhaustively briefed their motions and the Court has heard oral argument on them. For the reasons discussed below, the Court finds that some of Plaintiffs’ claims fail for lack of standing and the remaining claims fail on the merits.

BACKGROUND AND FINDINGS OF FACT

I. The Players

Plaintiff The Hunt Paving Company, Incorporated (“Hunt Paving”) and Contractor’s United, Incorporated (“GUI”) are Indiana corporations engaged primarily in the business of highway construction. (McNelis Aff. ¶ 2; Brunner Aff. ¶ 2.) Plaintiff Indiana Constructors, Inc. (“ICI”) is a not-for-profit Indiana corporation whose members are engaged in heavy, highway and utility construction in the State of Indiana; Hunt Paving and CUI are members of ICI. (Kahl Aff. ¶ 2.) ICI members have bid, are bidding and will bid on construction projects let by various departments of the City of Indianapolis, including the Department of Transportation. (Id. 118(a).)

Defendant The City of Indianapolis (“City”) is a political subdivision organized pursuant to the laws of the State of Indiana. (Ans. ¶ 4.) Defendant William H. Hudnut, III, was the Mayor of the City of Indianapolis at the time Hunt Paving filed this action. (Ans. H 5.) By State law, May- or Hudnut was empowered and required to supervise the work of the City’s departments. (Id.) The Board of Transportation (“Board”) is an administrative board of the City of Indianapolis Department of Transportation. (Ans. If 1.) Defendant Joseph C. Staehler was the Director of the Department of Transportation (“DOT”) and the chief presiding officer of the Board. (Ans. 118.)

Intervenors Allen Chemical, Inc., Altach Construction, Inc. Coleman Construction, Inc., Dixie Construction, Inc., and Looper Maintenance Service, Inc. are so-called “minority contractors” in the Indianapolis area and are considered Minority Business Enterprises (“MBE’s”) by the City.

II. The Mayor’s Executive Order No. 1, 1987

On February 27, 1987 Mayor Hudnut issued Executive Order No. 1, 1987 (the “Executive Order”).1 The Executive Order declared as a “goal” of the Mayor’s administration “to achieve significant utilization” of minority-owned and woman-owned business enterprises “in at least a dollar amount equal to [ten and two percent, respectively] of the annual amount spent by the City of Indianapolis for construction, goods and supplies and professional services____” (Executive Order, Declarations). The Executive Order ordered that:

The Division of Equal Opportunity shall continue development and implementation of the city-wide plan for utilization of minority-owned business enterprises and women-owned business enterprises and for compliance with affirmative action and prevailing wage requirements. This plan shall describe the efforts of the City to achieve its goals, shall assign responsibility of implementation to the appropriate City officials and shall specifically prescribe the procedures to be used in implementation, including the procedures to be employed upon a finding of non-compliance with any portion of the plan.

(Executive Order ¶ 1.)

The Directors shall assure that Department bid specifications and contracts include standard language concerning compliance with the City’s utilization plan.

(Id. 113.)

The Division of Equal Opportunity shall maintain a list of those contractors and vendors who have failed to comply (determined in accordance with the noncompliance procedure prescribed by the utilization plan) with the equal opportuni[743]*743ty provisions of City contracts and purchasing policies. Those contractors and vendors included on this list shall be denied City business opportunities for which bids are not required or solicited or be deemed to be non-responsible bidders in the . award of City contracts for which bids are required or solicited until such time as the contractor or vendor demonstrates the ability to become compliant pursuant to the utilization plan.

(Id. 114.)

III. The City’s MBE/WBE Specifications

Following the Mayor’s Executive Order, the City developed a “Specification for MBE and WBE Participation” (the “Specifications”), which the DOT used in its bidding process.2 The Specifications, which are stated in fifteen pages, provide in part as follows:

1. POLICY AND GOALS
It is the policy of the [City] that [MBE’s and WBE’s] shall have the maximum feasible opportunity to participate in the performance of contracts. Consequently, the City establishes the following goals for this project:
A. The MBE goal is ten percent (10%) of the contract price.
B. The WBE goal is two percent (02%) of the contract price.
2. AFFIRMATIVE OBLIGATIONS OF CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS
Each bidder who subcontracts any portion of the work bid shall undertake the following affirmative steps and require their subcontractors to undertake the following affirmative steps and to assure that minority and women’s businesses are used when possible as sources of supplies, equipment, construction and services.
[Five steps listed]
3. BIDDER RESPONSIVENESS
A. A properly signed bid commits the bidder to undertake the affirmative obligations set forth in this policy to achieve the stated goals of MBE and WBE participation
B. As a prerequisite to demonstrate MBE and WBE compliance and goal achievement, the bidder shall provide the following data with its bid:
1) Complete MBE/WBE Data Sheet 1 which:
a. Identifies a specific individual who should be contacted on all MBE/ WBE matters; and
b. States the proposed percentage of MBE and WBE participation versus the Owner’s stated goal based upon the total dollar amount of the contract; and
2) For proposals indicating less than the Owner’s stated goal, include a narrative documentation of the positive efforts taken to encourage the utilization of MBE’s and WBE’s and the reason for the bidder’s inability to achieve the stated goals. The Contractor may use MBE Data Sheet 2 or WBE Date Sheet 2 as appropriate for this purpose.

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Bluebook (online)
800 F. Supp. 740, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12515, 1992 WL 203144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunt-paving-co-v-city-of-indianapolis-insd-1992.