Moreno v. Penn National Gaming, Inc.

904 F. Supp. 2d 414, 2012 WL 5508236, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162446
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 14, 2012
DocketCivil No. 1:CV-12-1553
StatusPublished

This text of 904 F. Supp. 2d 414 (Moreno v. Penn National Gaming, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moreno v. Penn National Gaming, Inc., 904 F. Supp. 2d 414, 2012 WL 5508236, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162446 (M.D. Pa. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

SYLVIA H. RAMBO, District Judge.

Presently before the court are two motions: (1) Defendants’ Motion to Vacate August 22, 2012 Order Granting Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 27); and (2) Plaintiffs Motion to Overturn the Ejection of Tito Moreno Because 58 Pa.Code § 165.231 is Unconstitutional (Doc. 30). Both motions stem from this court’s granting of Plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction (Doc. 20) wherein Plaintiff, a licensed horse trainer, argued at a hearing before this court that his constitutional rights to due process were violated as a result of sanctions issued against him without a hearing before the Pennsylvania State Racing Commission (the “Commission”). For the following reasons, Defendants’ motion will be denied and Plaintiffs motion will be granted.

I. Background

A. Facts

The underlying facts of this case are discussed more fully in this court’s August 22, 2012 memorandum and order granting Plaintiffs request for a preliminary injunction (Doc. 20; Moreno v. Penn Nat’l Gaming, Inc., 2012 WL 3637316, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118551 (M.D.Pa. Aug. 22, 2012).) For present purposes, it is sufficient to state the following as background.

On August 1, 2012, two inspectors of the Pennsylvania State Racing Commission (“state inspectors”) witnessed Moreno and his son exit a stall in Barn 4 at Penn National with two syringes and an injectable bottle of Catosal. Pennsylvania state racing regulations provide that it is illegal to possess injection equipment on the track grounds. See 58 Pa.Code § 163.302(3). Defendant Mark Loewe, Vice President of Racing at Penn National, was informed of the incident by David Bailey, Racing Secretary. Loewe scheduled a meeting with Moreno on August 3, 2012, to discuss the incident and the actions that would be taken in response to the alleged violations. Following a meeting between Loewe and Plaintiffs counsel, Alan Pincus, Loewe acquiesced to Pincus’s request to issue a series of sanctions against Moreno in lieu of a formal ejection. On August 3, 2012, Loewe issued the following sanctions (“August 3 Sanctions”):

Effective as of this date, no entries will be accepted on Mr. Moreno’s horses at an PNG property prior to the release of any information or any of the PSHRC. Any horses currently In To Go will be scratched. (A special exemption has been made for Top Exchange due to his entry in a Stake Race on August 3.) Any further violation of any Penn National rule or policy, or should Mr. Moreno receive any other rule violations from any other recognized jurisdiction, will result in immediate ejection from the grounds of Penn National Race Course and revocation of all racing privileges.
No horses currently under Mr. Moreno’s care may be transferred without the approval of the racing office.
[417]*417All horses under Mr. Moreno’s care must be off the grounds of Penn National by Monday August, 13 at 12 noon. Penn National reserves the right to take further action after the findings of the PSHRC have been released.

On August 4, 2012, Moreno appealed the sanctions. Moreno argued that the sanctions amounted to an “ejection” or at least a “constructive ejection” thus entitling him to a hearing under the state horse racing regulations. The Commission did not grant Moreno’s request for an appeal, asserting that because Moreno was not formally ejected, he was not entitled to a hearing under the regulations.

B. Procedural History

In light of the Commission’s refusal to grant Plaintiffs request for an appeal, Plaintiff filed a complaint in this court requesting a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. (Doc. 1.) Plaintiff argued that the severity of the August 3 Sanctions rendered those sanctions tantamount to an ejection and Defendants’ failure to provide a hearing under 58 Pa.Code § 165.231 violated his rights to due process. On August 10, 2012, this court granted Plaintiffs request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. (Doc. 6.) The court also scheduled a hearing on the preliminary injunction for August 16, 2012. On August 14, 2012, Mountainview and the Turf Club formally ejected Moreno from Penn National faeilities (“August 14 Ejection”). Following the August 16, 2012 hearing, this court issued a memorandum and order granting Plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction. (Doc. 20.) In that memorandum, the court first rejected Defendants’ jurisdictional argument, finding sufficient evidence of state action to support a Section 1983 claim.1 The court also found that the severity of the August 3 Sanctions were tantamount to an ejection,2 thus entitling Plaintiff to the notice and hearing rights in 58 Pa.Code § 165.231. The court then addressed the preliminary injunction criteria. After finding that the possibility of harm to Plaintiff outweighs any harm to the Defendants, the court considered Plaintiffs likelihood of success on the merits. To that end, the court was informed by way of letter from defense counsel dated August 20, 2012, that a hearing was scheduled for August 28, 2012, regarding Moreno’s August 14 Ejection. The hearing notice, however, made clear that the hearing would not address the Commission’s August 3 Sanctions because those sanctions “do not constitute refusal of admission to, nor ejection from” Penn National’s facilities. The court found that because the hearing would not address the “constructive” ejection of August 3, 2012, and was scheduled for 25 days after that constructive ejection, Plaintiff had a “reasonable probability” of success on the merits of his due process claim. See Barry v. Barchi, 443 U.S. 55, 99 S.Ct. 2642, 61 L.Ed.2d 365 [418]*418(1979) (finding that a state law that specified no time in which a post-suspension hearing must be held and affords as long as 30 days after the conclusion of the hearing before a final order adjudicating the case must be issued violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.)

On August 28, 2012, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Ruth D. Dunne-wold (“August 28 Hearing”). The hearing, however, addressed both the August 14 Ejection of Moreno and Penn National’s August 3 Sanctions against Moreno.3 On September 6, 2012, the Commission entered an Adjudication and Order upholding both the August 3 Sanctions and the August 14 Ejection. (Doc. 27-3.)

II. Discussion

Defendants move to vacate the court’s August 22, 2012, order granting a preliminary injunction because circumstances have changed thus eviscerating the justification for the injunction. Specifically, Defendants argue that because Plaintiff has now had a hearing that addressed both the August 3 Sanctions and the August 14 Ejection, the court’s procedural due process concerns which formed the basis of the injunction are now moot.

Plaintiff counters with two arguments. First, Plaintiff argues that the court must find 58 Pa.Code § 165.231 unconstitutional and that the injunction should not be vacated until such a ruling is made. This argument forms the basis of Plaintiffs Motion to Declare 58 Pa.Code § 165.231 Unconstitutional, which was filed simultaneously with Plaintiffs response to Defendants’ motion, and will be discussed further below.

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Bluebook (online)
904 F. Supp. 2d 414, 2012 WL 5508236, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162446, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moreno-v-penn-national-gaming-inc-pamd-2012.