Scott Aviation, Inc. v. DUPAGE AIRPORT AUTHORITY

393 F. Supp. 2d 638, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9582, 2005 WL 1130030
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJanuary 24, 2005
Docket04 C 3048
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 393 F. Supp. 2d 638 (Scott Aviation, Inc. v. DUPAGE AIRPORT AUTHORITY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scott Aviation, Inc. v. DUPAGE AIRPORT AUTHORITY, 393 F. Supp. 2d 638, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9582, 2005 WL 1130030 (N.D. Ill. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

DER-YEGHIAYAN, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on Defendant DuPage Airport Authority’s (“DAA”) motion to dismiss all Counts pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and to dismiss Counts I through III and Count VII of the amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). For the reasons stated below, we grant the motion in part and deny the motion in part.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Anthony Aiello (“Aiello”) is the founder and principal shareholder of Plaintiff Scott Aviation, Inc. (“Scott”). DAA is authorized by statute to operate DuPage *642 Airport (“Airport”). Plaintiffs allege that in December of 2001, DAA entered into an “Agreement Authorizing Limited Fixed Based Operations” (“Agreement”) with Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs allege that under the Agreement they were authorized to engage in activities at the Airport such as the storage, maintenance, restoration, and repair of aircraft. Plaintiffs also allege that they were authorized under the Agreement to sell aircraft parts and accessories, charter freight operations and freight forwarding, the sale of new and used aircraft, and other operations. Plaintiffs allege that they invested millions of dollars in establishing their business at the Airport. Plaintiffs allege that in 1995 DAA issued an ordinance (“Ordinance”) which indicated that DAA would be the only authorized seller of aviation fuel at the Airport and made fueling more costly except for self fueling. Plaintiffs allege that the ordinances and policies of DAA artificially inflated the cost at the Airport for fueling and flying aircraft that are stored at the Airport and for transient aircraft. Plaintiffs allege that DAA has used its policies and ordinances to create an unlawful monopoly in the sale of aviation fuel to Airport users unable to self fuel.

In November of 2003 Scott filed a complaint against DAA with the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) in regards to the self-fueling restrictions and the FAA ruled in favor of the DAA. Plaintiffs subsequently filed the instant action and include in their amended complaint claims alleging: violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2 (Count I), a denial of Plaintiffs’ rights under the Airport and Airway Improvement Act (“AAIA”), 49 U.S.C.A. § 2201 et seq., in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Section 1983”)(Count II), a denial of Plaintiffs’ rights under the Commerce Clause in violation of Section 1983 (Count III), retaliation against Plaintiffs for exercising constitutionally protected rights of free speech and redress in violation of Section 1983 (Count IV), discrimination and denial of Plaintiffs’ equal protection rights in violation of Section 1983 (Count V), a request for a declaratory judgment (Count VI), and for relief under the unjust enrichment doctrine (Count VII).

LEGAL STANDARD

In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court must draw all reasonable inferences that favor the plaintiff, construe the allegations of the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and accept as true all well-pleaded facts and allegations in the complaint. Thompson v. Illinois Dep’t of Prof l Regulation, 300 F.3d 750, 753 (7th Cir.2002); Perkins v. Silverstein, 939 F.2d 463, 466 (7th Cir.1991). The allegations of a complaint should not be dismissed for a failure to state a claim “unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); See also Baker v. Kingsley, 387 F.3d 649, 664 (7th Cir.2004)(stating that although the “plaintiffs’ allegations provide[d] little detail ... [the court could not] say at [that] early stage in the litigation that plaintiffs [could] prove no set of facts in support of their claim that would entitle them to relief.”). Nonetheless, in order to withstand a motion to dismiss, a complaint must allege the “operative facts” upon which each claim is based. Kyle v. Morton High School, 144 F.3d 448, 454-55 (7th Cir.1998); Lucien v. Preiner, 967 F.2d 1166, 1168 (7th Cir.1992). Under current notice pleading standard in federal courts a plaintiff need not “plead facts that, if true, establish each element of a ‘cause of actionSee Sanjuan v. American Bd. of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc., 40 *643 F.3d 247, 251 (7th Cir.1994)(stating that a “[a]t this stage the plaintiff receives the benefit of imagination, so long as the hypotheses are consistent with the complaint” and that “[mjatching facts against legal elements comes later.”). The plaintiff need not allege all of the facts involved in the claim and can plead conclusions. Higgs v. Carver, 286 F.3d 437, 439 (7th Cir.2002); Kyle, 144 F.3d at 455. However, any conclusions pled must “provide the defendant with at least minimal notice of the claim,” Id., and the plaintiff cannot satisfy federal pleading requirements merely “by attaching bare legal conclusions to narrated facts which fail to outline the bases of [his] claim.” Perkins, 939 F.2d at 466-67. The Seventh Circuit has explained that “[o]ne pleads a ‘claim for relief by briefly describing the events.” Sanjuan, 40 F.3d at 251.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) requires a court to dismiss an action when it lacks subject matter jurisdiction. United Phosphorus, Ltd. v. Angus Chemical Co., 322 F.3d 942, 946 (7th Cir.2003). If the concern of the court or party challenging subject matter jurisdiction is that “subject matter jurisdiction is not evident on the face of the complaint, the motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) would be analyzed as any other motion to dismiss, by assuming for purposes of the motion that the allegations in the complaint are true.” Id.; see also Ezekiel v. Michel, 66 F.3d 894, 897 (7th Cir.1995)(stating that “[w]hen reviewing a motion to dismiss brought under Rule 12(b)(1), this court must accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations, and draw reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff.”).

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393 F. Supp. 2d 638, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9582, 2005 WL 1130030, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scott-aviation-inc-v-dupage-airport-authority-ilnd-2005.