Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn' v. City of Chicago

186 F. Supp. 3d 836, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70266, 2016 WL 2937468
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 14, 2016
DocketNo. 16 C 5117
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 186 F. Supp. 3d 836 (Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn' v. City of Chicago) 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
Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn' v. City of Chicago, 186 F. Supp. 3d 836, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70266, 2016 WL 2937468 (N.D. Ill. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Virginia M. Kendall, United States District Court Judge, Northern District of Illinois

Plaintiff Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (“SWAPA”) filed this action against the City of Chicago, Ginger Evans (the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation), and Tiffany Green (Deputy Commissioner of Concessions for the Chicago Department of Aviation) alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments arising from the CDA’s re[838]*838fusal to display an advertisement in Midway International Airport on one of the electronic dioramas in the terminal. The ad depicts a disgruntled Southwest Airlines pilot holding a sign that states “3.1 billion in profits/Pilot Raises $0.” SWAPA seeks to have the ad displayed immediately, in anticipation of the May 18, 2016 meeting of the shareholders of Southwest Airlines. SWAPA now moves for a temporary restraining order allowing their advertisement to be displayed.1 For the following reasons, SWAPA’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order [4] is granted.

BACKGROUND

SWAPA is the sole bargaining unit for more than 8,000 Southwest Airlines pilots. The CDA is a subdivision of the City of Chicago and administers all aspects of Chicago O’Hare and Midway International Airports. The CDA makes all final decisions regarding what advertisements may be displayed at these two airports.

On April 21, 2016, SWAPA sent Clear Channel—the CDA’s advertising vendor for the airports—a proposed advertisement to be posted at Midway Airport. On April 22, Clear Channel responded on behalf of the CDA via email, stating that “the Ad was rejected ... it was [presented to] a few powered execs and they rejected it.”

On April 22, 2016, SWAPA submitted the following revised version of the ad:

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The CDA rejected the revised version that same day, stating, “[i]t was reasonable to reject this ad based on the potential for it to be disparaging, a public issue and potentially political in nature. Ultimately, per the guidelines the final decision is Tiffany [Greenj’s to make and once made, that decision is final. You may refer SWAPA to Tiffany for her final decision and to the guidelines.”

On May 2, 2016, SWAPA’s president wrote a letter to the City of Chicago stating that the restriction violated the First Amendment. The City of Chicago responded, maintaining that it rejected the advertisement “based on the potential for it to [839]*839be disparaging, a public' issue, and potentially political in nature,’’ The-letter stated that Tiffany Green made the decision and that Clear Channel communicated the decision in accordance with the CDA’s Guidelines. Specifically, the CDA stated:

The Ad does not fall within -the description of permitted advertising content, because it is not commercial and promotional advertising, governmental advertising, a public . service announcement, or advertising promoting the- City and its airports, as those categories are defined in the Guidelines. Ex. B. at § II.A.1-4. Moreover, the Ad falls specifically-within three separate categories of prohibited advertising content. Id. at § II.B.1, 3, and 9. First,, the Ad is prohibited by Section II.B.1 of the Guidelines, because it expresses the opinions of a trade union and is political in nature. Id. at § II.B.1.. Second, the Ad is prohibited ■ by Section II.B.3 of the Guidelines because it addresses a public issue, namely the opinions, positions, or viewpoint of SWAPA about, economic and social issues, namely shareholder returns and pilot raises. Id. at § II.B.3. Third, the Ad is prohibited by Section II.B.9 of the Guidelines because it is intended to be, or reasonably could be interpreted as being, disparaging to a business, namely Southwest Airlines (“SWA”),' as well as persons, namely SWA’s shareholders. Id. at § II.B.9.

This lawsuit and motion for TRO followed.

DISCUSSION

A TRO is “an extraordinary and drastic remedy, one that should not be granted unless the movant, by a clear showing, carries the burden of persuasion.” See Goodman v. Ill. Dep’t of Fin. & Prof'l Regulation, 430 F.3d 432, 437 (7th Cir.2005) (quoting Mazurek v. Armstrong, 520 U.S. 968, 972, 117 S.Ct. 1865, 138 L.Ed.2d 162 (1997)). The standard for the issuance of a TRO is the same as that required to issue a preliminary injunction. See Merritte v. Kessel, 561 Fed.Appx. 546, 548 (7th Cir.2014). To obtain a preliminary injunction, the movant must demonstrate: (1) a likelihood of success on the merits, (2) that he or she will suffer irreparable harm absent injunctive relief, and (3) that he or she has no adequate remedy at law. See Smith v. Executive Dir. of Ind. War Mem’ls Comm’n, 742 F.3d 282, 286 (7th Cir.2014); Incredible Techs., Inc. v. Virtual Techs., Inc., 400 F.3d 1007, 1011 (7th Cir.2005). If the party seeking the TRO meets these requirements, then the Court must balance the harm that party will suffer without a TRO against the harm the other party would suffer should the Court grant the TRO. See Incredible Techs., 400 F.3d at 1011. The Court must also consider the public interest in granting or denying an injunction. See Ty, Inc. v. The Jones Group, Inc., 237 F.3d 891, 895 (7th Cir.2001).

I. Likelihood of Succéss on the Merits

To establish a likelihood of success on the merits, the movant must show that he has a “greater than negligible chance of winning.” AM Gen. Corp. v. Daimler-Chrysler Corp., 311 F.3d 796, 804 (7th Cir.2002). In determining whether SWAPA has any chance of prevailing on the merits of its free speech claim under the First Amendment, the court considers: (1) whether the speech is protected by the First Amendment; (2) if it is protected, the nature of its forum; and (3) whether the free speech restriction comports with the standard applicable to that forum. See Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Def. & Educ. Fund, 473 U.S. 788, 797, 105 S.Ct. 3439, 87 L.Ed.2d 567 (1985). The parties dispute only the second two inquiries: the nature of the forum and the proper scrutiny of the speech restriction.

[840]*840A. Forum Analysis

Preliminarily, the Court finds—and the parties do not dispute—that the relevant forum is defined as the advertising space— specifically the display dioramas for the ads. See Air Line Pilots Ass’n, Int’l v. Dept. of Aviation of City of Chicago, 45 F.3d 1144, 1152 (7th Cir.1995) (finding that the advertising space in an airport, rather than the airport as a whole, was the proper focus of forum analysis). Having defined the forum, the Court must determine whether that forum is “public, either traditional or designated, or whether it is nonpublic.” See id.; Grossbaum v. Indianapolis-Marion County Bldg. Auth., 100 F.3d 1287, 1297 (7th Cir.1996).

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186 F. Supp. 3d 836, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70266, 2016 WL 2937468, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southwest-airlines-pilots-assn-v-city-of-chicago-ilnd-2016.