Leib v. Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission

558 F.3d 1301, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 3286, 2009 WL 399990
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 19, 2009
Docket08-14271
StatusPublished
Cited by189 cases

This text of 558 F.3d 1301 (Leib v. Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission) 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
Leib v. Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission, 558 F.3d 1301, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 3286, 2009 WL 399990 (11th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

MARCUS, Circuit Judge:

Moshe Leib (“Leib”) appeals from the district court’s dismissal of his suit, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission (“HCPTC,” or “the Commission”) for denying him permission to operate a Toyota Prius as one of the limousines offered by his transportation service. Leib argues that the HCPTC violated his due process and equal protection rights, and that the Commission’s rules are unconstitutionally vague and im-permissibly burden interstate commerce. The district court dismissed Leib’s complaint under Rule 12(b)(6). After thorough review, we affirm.

I.

Leib owns and operates TB Limo.com, a limousine service in the Tampa Bay area. Seeking to offer customers an “environmentally-friendly” alternative to traditional limousines, Leib bought a Prius. In order to operate the Prius as a limousine within Hillsborough County, Leib had to obtain a permit from the HCPTC, the administrative agency charged by the Florida State Legislature with regulating the operation of public vehicles on Hillsborough County’s public highways. Act of May 25, 2001, Ch.2001-299, § 2(1). The Commission denied Leib’s request on the ground that the Prius did not qualify as a “luxury” vehicle, and thus did not meet the definition of “limousine” in HCPTC Taxi Rule 1.15, which states:

“Limousine” means any motor vehicle for hire not equipped with a taximeter, with the capacity for 15 passengers or less, including the driver. This definition consists of vehicles which are recognized by the industry as “luxury” vehicles, that are considered as high-end luxury vehicles by the manufacturer and vehicles that have been uniquely modified so as to provide “luxury” limousine service. The “luxury” quality of vehicles will be determined by assessing aesthetics of the interior and exterior of the vehicle, amenities provided to the passenger, spaciousness and comparison to current industry standards for vehicles performing limousine service in Hills-borough County.

Leib subsequently applied for a waiver of Rule 1.15’s “luxury” requirement. At an August 2007 meeting, however, the HCPTC considered the request and denied it. The Commission based its decision on HCPTC Taxi Rule 15.5, which explains the *1305 circumstances under which waivers and variances are to be granted:

Variances and waivers shall be granted when the person subject to the rule demonstrates that the purpose of the underlying statute will be or has been achieved by other means by the person and when application of a rule would create a substantial hardship or would violate principles of fairness. For purposes of this section, “substantial hardship” means a demonstrated economic, technological, legal, or other type of hardship to the person requesting the variance or waiver. For purposes of this section, “principles of fairness” are violated when the literal application of a Rule affects a particular person in a manner significantly different from the way i[t] affects other similarly situated persons who are subject to the Rule. 1

After his waiver request was denied, Leib filed the instant suit seeking an injunction allowing him to use his Prius as a limousine. The complaint alleges that the Commission violated his right to earn a living under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments (Count I), and his right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment (Count II). In addition, the complaint alleges that the Commission violated Leib’s right to due process by arbitrarily and capriciously denying his request to use the Prius as a limousine (Count III), by exercising its police power unlawfully (Count IV), and by granting “unbridled discretion” to administrative officials (Count VI). Finally, Leib’s suit alleges that the Commission’s rules are unconstitutionally vague (Count V), and that they place an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce (Count VII). 2 Each count asserts both a facial and an as-applied challenge to the Commission’s rules.

II.

We review de novo the district court’s grant of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, accepting the allegations in the complaint as true and construing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Mills v. Foremost Ins. Co., 511 F.3d 1300, 1303 (11th Cir.2008).

We first reject Leib’s argument that the district court erred in dismissing his equal protection claim in Count II. 3 The Equal Protection Clause requires the government to treat similarly situated persons in a similar manner. Gary v. City of Warner Robins, Ga., 311 F.3d 1334, 1337 *1306 (11th Cir.2002). “When legislation classifies persons in such a way that they receive different treatment under the law, the degree of scrutiny the court applies depends upon the basis for the classification.” Id. If a law treats individuals differently on the basis of race or another suspect classification, or if the law impinges on a fundamental right, it is subject to strict scrutiny. Eide v. Sarasota County, 908 F.2d 716, 722 (11th Cir.1990). Otherwise, the law need only have a rational basis — i.e., it need only be rationally related to a legitimate government purpose. Id.

Because Leib makes no allegation that he belongs to a suspect class or that the HCPTC’s rules violate a fundamental right, 4 his equal protection claim is subject only to rational basis review. The rational basis test asks (1) whether the government has the power or authority to regulate the particular area in question, and (2) whether there is a rational relationship between the government’s objective and the means it has chosen to achieve it. Cash Inn of Dade, Inc. v. Metro. Dade County, 938 F.2d 1239, 1241 (11th Cir.1991). This standard is easily met. As the Supreme Court has held, under rational basis review, a state “has no obligation to produce evidence to sustain the rationality of a statutory classification.” Heller v. Doe by Doe,509 U.S. 312, 320, 113 S.Ct. 2637, 125 L.Ed.2d 257 (1993). Rather, a statute is presumed constitutional, and the burden is on the one attacking the law to negate every conceivable basis that might support it, even if that basis has no foundation in the record. Id. Under rational basis review, a court must accept a legislature’s generalizations even when there is an imperfect fit between means and ends. Id.

Rule 1.15 easily survives rational basis review.

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Bluebook (online)
558 F.3d 1301, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 3286, 2009 WL 399990, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leib-v-hillsborough-county-public-transportation-commission-ca11-2009.