ASHLEY MEADOWS FARM v. AM. HORSE SHOWS ASS'N

• Decision Date: 30 September 1985
• Docket Number: No. 82 Civ. 5691 (RWS).,82 Civ. 5691 (RWS).
• Citation: 617 F. Supp. 1058
• Parties: ASHLEY MEADOWS FARM, INC., Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN HORSE SHOWS ASSOCIATION, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

617 F. Supp. 1058

ASHLEY MEADOWS FARM, INC., Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN HORSE SHOWS ASSOCIATION, INC., Defendant.

No. 82 Civ. 5691 (RWS).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

September 30, 1985.

Butler, Fitzgerald & Potter, P.C., New York City (James M. Davis and James H. Neale, New York City, of counsel), for plaintiff.

LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae and Tenzer, Greenblatt, Fallon & Kaplan, New York City (H. Richard Wachtel, Molly S. Boast, Richard G. Reid and Thomas More Griffin, New York City, of counsel), for defendant.

SWEET, District Judge.

Defendant American Horse Shows Association, Inc. (the "Association") has made its third motion to dismiss this antitrust action brought by Ashley Meadows Farm, Inc. (the "Farm"), this time for summary judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. Upon the findings and conclusions set forth below, the motion will be granted on the grounds that the Farm lacks standing.

The Parties

The Association was organized under the laws of New York in 1917 and has become the national equestrian federation of the United States. Its membership is comprised of approximately 2,000 recognized horse shows and more than 40,000 individual members. The Association does not operate horse shows. From time to time the Association prints its Constitution and Rules which govern recognized horse show competitions.

The Farm is a corporation organized in 1979 which has owned and operated a number of horse shows recognized by the Association every year since 1980. The Farm, whose president and operator is Dolores A. Swann ("Mrs. Swann"), has operated its shows at a facility in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

Prior Proceedings

According to the Association, "this litigation has wandered without clear direction for nearly three years." This perigrination is worth recording, representing as it does a classic example of the difficulties presented in achieving an efficient disposition of litigation. Energetic and ingenious counsel, both present and past, have overlooked no opportunity to employ their skills, and the disposition of the action has been delayed by discovery disputes and motion practice despite the resolution by the court of each issue raised by the parties. Positions of the parties have shifted and the issues sensitive to each of the parties have been thoroughly explored. The process has been exhaustive, presumably expensive and has been guided, as it must be, by the litigative strategies of the parties, including the Association's instant motion for summary judgment on the eve of trial after all discovery has been completed.

The initial complaint was filed on August 27, 1982, alleging prima facie tort committed by the Association and its secretary, Ira Finkelstein, against the Farm and its president Mrs. Swann. The complaint arose out of the Farm's claim regarding the alleged denial of certain procedural rights in connection with the Association's imposition of a $500 fine for the Farm's failure to provide ambulance service at one of its horse shows. Although the suit was scheduled for a pretrial conference on November 30, 1982, the court was advised a settlement had been reached and the action was dismissed on December 2, 1982, only to be reopened later at the request of the litigants.

In February, 1983, the Farm filed an amended complaint alleging the antitrust violations which have remained at issue to the present. In response, the Association and Ira Finklestein moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. By opinion of September 29, 1983, the motion was granted as to Finklestein and denied as to the Association. At the end of 1983, the Association requested and was granted a substitution of counsel. Shortly thereafter, the Farm requested an entry of judgment for failure to answer timely the amended complaint. The entry of default was eventually set aside upon the motion brought by the Association's new counsel.

On January 31, 1984, the parties requested additional time in order to complete motions and discovery and to pursue settlement. The request was granted and a deadline of June 11, 1984 was ordered, not to be extended except by motion. By May discovery disputes had arisen requiring a court conference for resolution. A trial date of July 2 was set. On June 19, 1984 the Association moved for summary judgment. After an adjournment by consent the motion was eventually granted as to Mrs. Swann and denied as to the Farm by the opinion dated September 20, 1984. In denying summary judgment seeking dismissal of the Farm's complaint for lack of standing, the opinion stated:

Given the availability to the Farm of its own financial statements and its asserted intention to introduce evidence of the profitability of horse shows of the category and scale which the Farm had desired to sponsor, the rigorous showing necessary to grant a summary judgment motion has not been satisfied.

A further order set November 28, 1984 as the deadline for completion of discovery and by December 9 a pretrial order had been submitted and modified. The Association responded by seeking to stay completion of discovery until February 2, 1985. The court was then advised that the action was settled, and later that it was not. On February 4, 1985, the Farm moved for summary judgment. The hearing on the Farm's motion was adjourned on consent and by opinion of May 10, 1985 it was denied. A deadline of July 16 was set for the completion of discovery and the submission of a pretrial order. The instant motion was filed on July 3, 1985 and heard by consent of the parties on July 26. Rather than wandering without direction, this action has been detoured by last minute diversions as set forth above, of which the instant motion is simply the latest and the most successful.

The Issues

The question of standing and the degree of injury necessary to confer it has already been considered by the court once before, prior to the completion of discovery and submission of a pretrial order clarifying the proof anticipated by both the Association and the Farm. Under the peculiar and particular circumstances here presented and described below, it is now apparent that the Farm will not present any evidence of monetary damages to it. The question of its standing to obtain injunctive relief is thus presented.

The Availability of Summary Judgment and the Undisputed Facts

Summary judgment at the hands of a trial judge is a difficult determination to make and equally difficult to support on appeal. The authorities are oft cited. On the one hand, a court considering a motion for summary judgment must resolve all doubts and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the party opposing the motion. United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962) (per curiam); United States v. One Tintoretto Painting Entitled "The Holy Family with Saint Catherine and Honored Donor," 691 F.2d 603, 606 (2d Cir. 1982). Moreover, this Circuit has long had a policy in favor of allowing the development of a full factual record through trial of the issues presented, a policy which is limited by the grant of summary judgment. See Jaroslawicz v. Seedman, 528 F.2d 727, 731 (2d Cir.1975).

On the other hand, a plaintiffs' failure to allege substantial facts and its mere reliance on a general denial of the accuracy of the opponent's affidavits is insufficient to controvert a motion for summary judgment. Project Release v. Prevost, 722 F.2d 960, 968 (2d Cir.1983); see WIXT Television, Inc. v. Meredith Corp., 506 F.Supp. 1003 (N.D.N.Y.1980). In such circumstances the use of summary judgment is desirable to avoid imposing and incurring "fruitless expenses of litigation." Merit Motors, Inc. v. Chrysler Corp., 569 F.2d 666, 673 (D.C.Cir.1977). The court's prior opinions and its decision here have attempted to strike the delicate balance required by these principles.

Except as noted here, none of the facts previously found have been altered by the showing on this motion. The 212-page pretrial order reflecting the issues, the projected proof, and the stipulated facts has been considered in conjunction herewith and should be considered as an unattached appendix to this opinion. The pretrial order and the evidence submitted on this motion demonstrate the unique character of the facts now undisputed.

The initial prima facie tort claim was replaced by allegations of Sherman Act violations resulting from the Association's "Mileage Rule" which limits the time and place of holding various categories of recognized horse shows. According to the Association, it is a governing board of equestrian sport under the legislation set up to organize the United States Olympic Committee. Once the United States Equestrian Team designates certain of the Association's shows as those upon which its selections are based, the Association's rules actually govern the competition. The Association maintains that its limitations on the holding of horse shows are necessary to further the sport of equestrian competition. It has already been held that a rule of reason analysis is applicable despite the per se violation resulting from these limitations on competition. Opinion of May 10, 1985.

Every year since 1980, the Farm has staged a number of horse shows recognized by the Association. The Farm expends funds to conduct its horse shows, and earns revenues on each show, primarily from the entry fees paid by exhibitors, who often travel across state lines to compete at Ashley Meadows Farm. Some of the Farm's shows have made a profit while others have not and the dates and ratings assigned to each of the Farm's horse shows by the Association are claimed to be a factor in this outcome.

The "Mileage Rule" establishes minimum distances between horse shows recognized by the Association and grants priority to established recognized shows over other shows or new shows seeking recognition for the first time. As a result, the Farm has...