JP Mascaro & Sons, Inc. v. Township of Bristol
Decision Date | 06 October 1980 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 80-1856. |
Citation | 497 F. Supp. 625 |
Parties | J. P. MASCARO & SONS, INC. v. TOWNSHIP OF BRISTOL, The Board of Commissioners of the Township of Bristol, James K. Pekarski, L. Marie Mascia, Chaser J. Cotugno, William H. Sommerer, Anthony V. Gesualdi, Robert Lewis, Jr., Jennie Cattani, Jerry Catania, Albert M. Wurm, James A. Aichele and Anthony J. Melis, as members of the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Bristol. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Christopher C. Fallon, Jr., Cozen, Begier & O'Connor, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiff.
Leonard B. Sokolove, Sokolove, Pechter, Stief & Waite, Bristol, Pa., for defendants.
Plaintiff, J. P. Mascaro & Sons, Inc., brought this action alleging violations of its civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 19831 and asserting pendent claims under state tort law.2 All of plaintiff's claims arise out of the failure of defendant, The Township of Bristol (Township), to grant plaintiff a hearing prior to rejecting plaintiff's bid on a refuse removal contract.
This case is presently before me on defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. F.R.Civ.P. 12(b) (1).3 The parties, however, in both their written submissions and at oral argument, have framed the issue as whether plaintiff has stated a claim which is cognizable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Accordingly, I will consider the motion before me as a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. F.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). See e. g., Mirin v. Taxi Cab Authority, 441 F.2d 1123, 1125 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 914, 92 S.Ct. 240, 30 L.Ed.2d 188 (1971); Dennis v. Hein, 413 F.Supp. 1137, 1139 (D.S.C.1976). See also Coggins v. Carpenter, 468 F.Supp. 270, 279 (E.D.Pa.1979) ( ).
The pertinent facts in this case can be briefly stated. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires that requests for bids for a public contract with a township be advertised, and that the contract be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. 53 Pa.Stat.Ann. § 56802(b) (Purdons Supp. 1980). In the fall of 1979, pursuant to this statutory requirement, The Township of Bristol advertised for bids for a refuse collection contract. Plaintiff, which was the incumbent trash collector for the Township, submitted a bid of $929,000. This was the lowest bid submitted. On November 21, 1979, the contract was awarded to Penn Sanitation Company which, according to the Township Board of Commissioners, was the lowest responsible bidder. Mascaro asserts in its complaint that the Township's manager, defendant M. Michael Markl, stated that the reasons for the rejection of plaintiff's bid were the inadequacy of plaintiff's equipment, disputes concerning times of payment under the contract then in effect between the parties, and various lawsuits which had been instituted by plaintiff against defendant. No hearing had ever been held to determine whether or not plaintiff was a responsible bidder.
Plaintiff alleges that the failure to grant it a hearing on the issue as to whether it was a responsible bidder deprived it of property without due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Plaintiff does not seek a judicial award of the contract to it, nor does it seek a termination of the Township's contract with Penn Sanitation. Plaintiff does seek an award in excess of $600,000 for damages allegedly incurred from the failure to grant it a hearing on its responsibility as a bidder.
In order to secure the relief it seeks under § 1983, plaintiff must demonstrate that the Township deprived it of property without according it the procedural protection required by the due process clause. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 568, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2704, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). The threshold question, therefore, is whether the interest claimed by Mascaro is a property interest protected by the Constitution. Lewis v. School District of Bristol, 443 F.Supp. 923, 926 (E.D.Pa.1978). In order to have a property interest in a government benefit, whether it be a job or a public works contract, the party making the claim must show that it has a "legitimate claim of entitlement." Board of Regents v. Roth, supra, 408 U.S. at 577, 92 S.Ct. at 2709. Whether or not a claimant has such an entitlement to the benefit is decided by reference to state law. Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 344, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 2077, 48 L.Ed.2d 684 (1976), Rosenthal v. Rizzo, 555 F.2d 390, 392 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 892, 98 S.Ct. 268, 54 L.Ed.2d 178 (1977).
Initially, since it was the lowest monetary bidder, plaintiff contended that 53 Pa.Stat.Ann. § 56802(b), with its requirement that the contract be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, gave it a claim of entitlement to the contract. Plaintiff now concedes, however, that this statute does not create rights in one who bids on a contract, but rather exists merely to protect the taxpayers from wasteful or fraudulent expenditures of public funds.4 Sovereign Construction Company, Ltd. v. City of Philadelphia, 439 F.Supp. 692, 694 (E.D.Pa. 1977), aff'd mem. 582 F.2d 1276 (3d Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1072, 99 S.Ct. 844, (1979); R. S. Noonan, Inc. v. York School District, 400 Pa. 391, 395, 162 A.2d 623 (1960). Under Pennsylvania law a disappointed bidder simply has no cause of action for failure to receive a contract. Sovereign Construction Company, Ltd., supra, at 694. Plaintiff, therefore, has no claim of entitlement to a public contract based on the requirement that the contract be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, since in Pennsylvania, that requirement is solely for the protection of the taxpayers.5
Despite the absence of any statutory entitlement to the refuse collection contract, plaintiff still contends that it has been deprived of a property interest. Essentially, Mascaro claims that the failure of defendant to grant it a hearing deprived it of its fundamental right to earn a livelihood, a right protected by both the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions. See, U.S. Const. Amend. XIV, Pa.Const. Art. I, § I. Plaintiff is clearly correct when it contends that the right to pursue a livelihood is a property right under Pennsylvania law. See, e. g., Montgomery County Bar Association v. Rinalducci, 329 Pa. 296, 298, 197 A. 924 (1938); Mazzocone v. Willing, 246 Pa.Super. 98, 369 A.2d 829, 831 (Ct. 1977) reversed on other grounds, 482 Pa. 377, 393 A.2d 1155 (1978). Pirillo v. Takiff, 462 Pa. 511, 341 A.2d 896, 900 (Pa. 1975), appeal dismissed, 423 U.S. 1083, 96 S.Ct. 873, 47 L.Ed.2d 94 (1976). Plaintiff, however, misses the point. The protections of procedural due process do not apply unless there has been a deprivation of a property interest. Board of Regents v. Roth, supra, 408 U.S. at 570, 92 S.Ct. at 2705. Mascaro has failed to demonstrate how the failure of the Township, to either award it the contract or to grant it a hearing, deprived it of its right to pursue a livelihood.
There are no allegations in this case that Mascaro has been prevented from being a trash collector. This is not a case, for example, where the government has precluded a bidder from ever bidding on contracts in the future. See Gonzalez v. Freeman, 334 F.2d 570, 575 (D.C. Cir. 1964). Nor is it comparable to a case where an attorney has been disbarred without a hearing. See In re Shigon, 462 Pa. 1, 329 A.2d 235 (1969). In a similar vein, Mascaro is not being arbitrarily denied a license prerequisite to engaging in a lawful activity. See Bell v. Burson, 402 U.S. 535, 539, 91 S.Ct. 1586, 1589, 29 L.Ed.2d 90 (1971). All that this case involves is a contract "lost" by a disappointed bidder, the inevitable byproduct of the procedure through which public contracts are awarded.
All that occurred in the instant case is that Mascaro failed to win a particular refuse collection contract which...
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