Toye Bros. Yellow Cab Co. v. Irby

305 F. Supp. 905, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13354
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedJune 26, 1969
DocketCiv. A. No. 69-1266
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 305 F. Supp. 905 (Toye Bros. Yellow Cab Co. v. Irby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Toye Bros. Yellow Cab Co. v. Irby, 305 F. Supp. 905, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13354 (E.D. La. 1969).

Opinion

BOYLE, District Judge.

This is an action1 for an injunction brought by Toye Bros. Yellow Cab Company (hereinafter “Toye”) against Joseph H. Irby and Leon E. Croenne, d/b/a Mississippi Coast Limousine Service (hereinafter “Coast”), to enjoin them from: a) using their limousines or other motor vehicles to enter2 upon Moisant International Airport (hereinafter “Airport”), a regional airport; b) discharging, soliciting or picking v. passengers; c) allowing its limousines to operate on airport grounds without written permission from the N. O. Aviation Board3 (hereinafter “Board”); and d) failing to comply with the Board’s rules and regulations. The Board has intervened on the side of plaintiff, claiming, in addition to plaintiff’s allegations, that the defendant is unwilling to pay any tax, service charge or fee for the privilege of doing business on the airport grounds.

Toye contends, first, it has standing to seek the injunctive relief, second, the Board is a proprietary owner and has the right to regulate the business concessions at the Airport to the point of denying Coast'access to the Airport, third, that the ICC order is restrictive in that it does not grant Coast the authority to enter the Airport and pick v. and discharge passengers, and, fourth, that even if the Board did allow Coast to operate at the Airport, that this would be a violation of the exclusive franchise granted Toye by the City of New Orleans and it would be entitled to injunctive relief.

Defendant Coast contends, first, that the commerce clause of the Constitution grants exclusive jurisdiction to the Federal Government, second, that the attack on the ICC Certificate of Convenience and Necessity can be directed only to a three judge court, third, that the Airport is public property under Louisiana law, and, lastly, the Board cannot arbitrarily refuse to allow Coast to operal. on the airport grounds. Counsel for Coast, on argument, stated Coast’s willingness to pay for the privilege of pick[907]*907ing v. passengers who would use its eastbound interstate service and for cf. fice, telephone and other facilities of the nature of those enjoyed by Toye, as it had at Board meetings, but proclaimed its unwillingness, as it had in Board meetings, to pay 10% of its receipts on the ground that such amount would be confiscatory and interfere with its right to exercise its permit to engage in interstate commerce.

Adopting Toye’s contentions, the Board also seeks injunctive relief. The Board’s counsel, on argument, claimed the Board had the right to control the entry and the doing of business upon the Airport and to charge reasonable fees for the privilege of doing business. The Board, he says, has no quarrel with Coast bringing in and discharging passengers and moving out, even without fees. But counsel states that the Board’s quarrel with Coast is that it seeks to pick v. passengers destined for Mississippi without having a contract with the Board to pay the required fee, set by the Board, at 10% of Coast’s receipts.

The tenor of Board counsel’s argument, and the history reflected by the minutes of Board meetings, leaves v. with the impression that had Coast agreed to pay the required fee, a contract between the Board and Coast would have been entered into, notwithstanding Toye’s “exclusive franchise.”4 However, counsel for the Board ultimately declined, on argument, to say whether the Board would be willing to enter such a contract if Coast were willing to meet its reasonable terms.

Finally, counsel, claiming that because the Airport is a regional airport in the very near future the Board must recognize that service is to be rendered on a regional basis, urged v. to grant the interlocutory injunction in view, of the fact that the Toye franchise will expire within the year and it could be that the Board “would then offer for bid a franchise that will be more regional than the present one (Toye’s) at this time.” If the Airport is now a regional one we do not understand why regional service should not be made available now. Toye’s service is not more or less regional. It is purely local, serving only a small part of territorial New Orleans.

Diversity jurisdiction in this Court is present. However, Title 28 U.S.C. §§ 2321-2325 provides for a three judge court, which Coast urges should be convened herein, in an action “to enforce, suspend, enjoin, annul or set aside in whole or in part any order of the Interstate Commerce Commission.” Section 2323 requires the Attorney General to represent the U. S. Government. The ICC order has not been attacked directly by any party, nor has the United States been sued or made a party to this action. Collateral attacks cannot be permitted. Until held invalid, after a proper attack, the Commission’s order must be respected by this Court. Bras-well Motor Freight, Inc. v. United States, 297 F.Supp. 215 (S.D.Miss., 1969). In the present state of the record, this is not a case for a statutory court.

Harrison County, Mississippi, along its Gulf coast, has steadily increased in population over the past few years. There are also several military facilities located in this area. The defendant Coast was organized by two Mississippi businessmen to transport air passengers directly to the Airport from Harrison County, [908]*908Mississippi5 and the various military bases6 located therein, as well as from the Airport to Harrison County. Previously, though other means probably were used, some air passengers destined for Harrison County arriving at the Airport would take a Toye limousine to downtown New Orleans and from there a bus or train to Harrison County. This arrangement is not always suitable to a traveler because of the layover and lack of train and bus service at certain hours. Coast service unquestionably would be found by some travelers to be preferable, considering the direct service, time, convenience, comfort and cost. The limousine service from the Airport, coupled with bus or train fare, would cost, we were told in argument, about six to seven dollars. Coast’s limousine service is provided for eleven dollars (nine dollars for servicemen) and is direct non-stop.

On November 5, 1968, Coast, through its attorney, David Cottrell, Jr., appeared before the Board to request permission to indicate to the ICC that the Board approved of the service and that if the permit were granted, reasonable arrangements could be worked out between Coast and the Board. The Board recognized a need for the service and did not object to Coast obtaining a certificate from the ICC, indicating that if a certificate were issued, arrangements could be discussed.

“Service Authorized
Passengers and their baggage, over regular routes,
Between points on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Miss, and New Orleans International Airport at Kenner, La.
From points on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Miss, over U. S. Highway 90 to its junction with Highway 10, thence over Interstate Highway 10 to New Orleans International Airport at Kenner, La. and return over same route.”

On January 4, 1969, Coast filed an Application for Temporary Authority to transport persons in interstate commerce with the ICC.

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Bluebook (online)
305 F. Supp. 905, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/toye-bros-yellow-cab-co-v-irby-laed-1969.