National Wine & Spirits Corp. v. Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission

945 N.E.2d 182, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 353, 2011 WL 723396
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 2, 2011
Docket49A02-1006-PL-612
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 945 N.E.2d 182 (National Wine & Spirits Corp. v. Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Wine & Spirits Corp. v. Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission, 945 N.E.2d 182, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 353, 2011 WL 723396 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

National Wine & Spirits Corporation (National Wine) appeals from the trial court’s order dismissing its petition for judicial review of the issuance of a wine and liquor permit to a competitor, Southern Wine & Spirits of Indiana, Inc. (Southern Wine). National Wine raises several issues for our review, which we consolidate and restate as follows: Did the trial court err by dismissing National Wine’s petition for judicial review of the agency decision for lack of standing?

We affirm.

National Wine is an Indiana corporation doing business in several states as a liquor wholesaler. National Wine and Olinger Distributing Company (ODC) were the top two liquor wholesalers in Indiana. Southern Wine is a corporation organized under Indiana law with offices located in New Albany, Indiana. Southern Wine is a subsidiary of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., a Florida corporation doing business in twenty-nine states.

Southern Wine applied to the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission (IATC) for liquor and wine wholesaler permits in Indiana. The IATC conducted hearings on Southern Wine’s applications and National Wine participated in the hearings as a public remonstrator. National Wine argued that Southern Wine should be denied liquor and wine wholesaler permits, alleging that Southern Wine and ODC were *184 engaged in anticompetitive coordination such that National Wine would suffer immediate harm to its supplier contracts and relationships if Southern Wine’s permit applications were granted. National Wine sought permission from the IATC to be granted status as an intervening remon-strator, but that request was denied.

At its hearing on September 15, 2009, the IATC unanimously voted to recommend a denial of Southern Wine’s permit application. The IATC later issued a notice of proposed action and right to public hearing in which the IATC expressed concerns about alleged trade practice violations by Southern Wine in other states including allegations of raiding competitors’ employees and the failure to voluntarily disclose business interests, among other things. Prior to the public hearing, Southern Wine presented evidence in support of its permit applications and National Wine presented a written statement in opposition to Southern Wine’s permit applications. After taking the matter under advisement, the IATC voted unanimously to grant Southern Wine’s permit applications and issued written findings of fact and conclusions thereon.

On November 16, 2009, National Wine filed a verified petition for judicial review of the IATC’s decision to issue the permits to Southern Wine. On December 14, 2009, the IATC filed a motion to dismiss the petition, followed by Southern Wine’s motion to dismiss the petition. Ultimately, after holding a hearing on the motions, the trial court dismissed National Wine’s petition for judicial review citing National Wine’s lack of standing. National Wine now appeals.

National Wine argues that the trial court erred by denying its petition for judicial review on the basis of lack of standing and claims that it should have standing to challenge the IATC order because it was aggrieved and adversely affected by the order and that due process concerns support its ability to challenge the order. We disagree.

“The judicial doctrine of standing focuses on whether the complaining pai'ty is the proper person to invoke the court’s power.” Hauer v. BRDD of Indiana, Inc., 654 N.E.2d 316, 317 (Ind.Ct.App.1995). “The standing requirement is a limit on the court’s jurisdiction which restrains the judiciary to resolving real controversies in which the complaining party has a demonstrable injury.” Schloss v. City of Indianapolis, 553 N.E.2d 1204, 1206 (Ind.1990).

As for review of administrative decisions, “[jjudicial review is available only to those who have standing, who have exhausted administrative remedies, who have timely pursued review, and who have met any other requirements established by law.” Indiana Ass’n of Beverage Retailers, Inc. v. Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Comm’n, 836 N.E.2d 255, 257 (Ind.2005). Under the Indiana Administrative Orders and Procedures Act (AOPA), specific categories of persons have standing to obtain judicial review of an agency action. Ind. Code Ann. § 4-21.5-5-3(a) (West, Westlaw current through end of 2010 Second Regular Sess.). In pertinent part, AOPA provides that the following have standing to obtain judicial review of an agency action:

(1) A person to whom the agency action is specifically directed.
(2) A person who was a party to the agency proceedings that led to the agency action.
(3) A person eligible for standing under a law applicable to the agency action.
(4) A person otherwise aggrieved or adversely affected by the agency action ....
(b) A person has standing under subsection (a)(4) only if:
*185 (1) the agency action has prejudiced or is likely to prejudice the interests of the person;
(2) the person;
(A) was eligible for an initial notice of an order or proceeding under this article, was not notified of the order or proceeding in substantial compliance with this article, and did not have actual notice of the order or proceeding before the last date in the proceeding that the person could object or otherwise intervene to contest the agency action; or
(B) was qualified to intervene to contest an agency action under IC 4-21.5-3-21(a), petitioned for intervention in the proceeding, and was denied party status;
(3) the person’s asserted interests are among those that the agency was required to consider when it engaged in the agency action challenged; and
(4) a judgment in favor of the person would substantially eliminate or redress the prejudice to the person caused or likely to be caused by the agency action.

Id.

Northern Wine petitioned the IATC to be granted intervening remonstrator status.

The [IATC] regulations plainly differentiate between “remonstrators,” who are not parties, and “intervening re-monstrators,” who become parties. A remonstrator must become an “intervening remonstrator” in order to seek administrative review of the initial agency action. A “remonstrator” seeking to become an intervening remon-strator, and therefore a “party” is subject to the “aggrieved or adversely affected” requirement. A remon-strator who objects to the commission’s actions must file a request for an appeal hearing within fifteen (15) days. 905 I.A.C. § 1-36-2(b).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
945 N.E.2d 182, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 353, 2011 WL 723396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-wine-spirits-corp-v-indiana-alcohol-tobacco-commission-indctapp-2011.