Carrillo v. Penn Nat'l Gaming, Inc.
| Decision Date | 23 March 2016 |
| Docket Number | CV 15–1111 WPL/GBW |
| Citation | 172 F.Supp.3d 1204 |
| Parties | Arnoldo Carrillo and Santa Fe Horse Racing by Carillo's, LLC, Plaintiffs, v. Penn National Gaming, Inc.; Christopher McErlean; Rick Baugh ; Fred Hutton; My Way Holdings, LLC, a Nevada Limited Company d/b/a Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino ; SunRay Gaming of New Mexico, LLC; Ruidoso Downs Racing, Inc.; the New Mexico Racing Commission; the Boards of Stewards of Zia Park, Sunland Park, SunRay Gaming, and Ruidoso Downs; and David Keiter, Ed L'Ecuyer, and Kenneth Hart, in their individual capacities, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
Christa M. Okon, Santa Fe, NM, for Plaintiffs.
Benjamin F. Feuchter, Deron B. Knoner, Keleher & McLeod PA, Ellen M. Kelly, Robert Curtis Law Office PA, Megan Day Hill, Civerolo, Gralow, Hill & Curtis, PA, John K. Ziegler, Traci Nicole Olivas, Conklin, Woodcock & Ziegler, PC, Billy R. Blackburn, Albuquerque, NM, for Defendants.
Arnoldo Carrillo is licensed by the New Mexico Racing Commission to train and race horses, and did so through his company, Santa Fe Horse Racing by Carrillo's, LLC (“Plaintiffs”). Plaintiffs raced their horses at New Mexico's five licensed horse racing tracks, and were successful doing so. They won purses totaling approximately $209,000 in 2011, $383,000 in 2012, and $100,000 in 2013, and were the American Quarter Horse Association's number six top quarter horse owners in 2012 by races won in North America.
Plaintiffs claim that, in 2012 and 2013, they were improperly excluded from racing at four of New Mexico's race tracks: Zia Park, Sunland Park, SunRay Park, and Ruidoso Downs. Plaintiffs have sued Penn National Gaming, Inc., the parent company of Zia Park, LLC, which operates Zia Park race track, and three of their employees: Christopher McErlean, Rick Baugh, and Fred Hutton; My Way Holdings, LLC, which operates Sunland Park race track; and Sunray Gaming of New Mexico, LLC, and Ruidoso Downs Racing, Inc., which respectively operate the SunRay Park and Ruidoso Downs race tracks (collectively “the Race Track Defendants”). Plaintiffs have also sued the New Mexico Racing Commission; the Boards of Stewards of Zia Park, Sunland Park, SunRay Park, and Ruidoso Downs (collectively “the Boards”); and David Keiter, Ed L'Ecuyer, and Kenneth Hart, members of the Boards of Stewards at Zia Park, Sunland Park, and Ruidoso Downs, in their individual capacities (collectively “the Stewards”).
Plaintiffs have brought claims against the Defendants for depriving them of their liberty interest in pursuing their occupation of horse racing and violating their due process and equal protection rights. Because Plaintiffs have previously filed suit in state court for unlawful exclusion from the race tracks, all of the Defendants have filed motions to dismiss the claims made against them, raising at least one of res judicata's two barriers to repeat litigation: claim preclusion and issue preclusion. (Docs. 35, 36, 38, 39 and 40.) The Racing Commission and the Boards also claim that they are entitled to dismissal of Plaintiffs' claims because they are not “persons” for purposes of liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, while the Stewards assert a qualified immunity defense.
In evaluating these motions, I must accept as true all well-pled factual allegations in Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint and must view them in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs. Brokers' Choice of Am., Inc. v. NBC Universal, Inc., 757 F.3d 1125, 1136 (10th Cir.2014). But purely conclusory allegations are not entitled to be presumed true. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 681, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). I may take judicial notice of the pleadings in the prior state court lawsuit without converting the motions to motions for summary judgment. Pace v. Swerdlow, 519 F.3d 1067, 1072–73 (10th Cir.2008). I decline Plaintiffs' request to take judicial notice of certain documents (i.e. , articles in the New York Times, The Horse, and the Paulick Report) and other asserted facts because they are not appropriate for judicial notice. See FED. R. EVID. 201(b) ; United States v. Friday, 525 F.3d 938, 958 n. 10 (10th Cir.2008) ; S.E.C. v. Goldstone, 952 F.Supp.2d 1060, 1192–93 (D.N.M.2013). When evaluating the motions to dismiss, I may not weigh potential evidence that the parties may present at trial, but focus on whether Plaintiffs' amended complaint is legally sufficient to state a claim for which relief may be granted. Brokers' Choice, 757 F.3d at 1135.
According to Plaintiffs, their problems began in September of 2012, when Penn National Gaming, Inc., decided to destroy Plaintiffs' racing career. Prior to this, Plaintiffs had never had any significant disciplinary action taken against them at any New Mexico race track. They had never had a horse test positive for prohibited substances in New Mexico, and had never had their racing licenses suspended or revoked. On September 9, 2012, after completing their races at Zia Park, two of Plaintiffs' horses, Sweetened Vanilla and Osceolacorona For Me, were taken back to their stables by equine ambulance or van, known in racing as being “vanned off.” On September 16, 2012, representatives of Zia Park, including Rick Baugh and Fred Hutton, Zia Park's Assistant Manager and Director of Racing, met with Plaintiffs to inform them that if any more of their horses were injured or vanned off they would be excluded from participating in further races at Zia Park. Subsequently, on October 29, 2012, another of Plaintiffs' horses, De Genuine Queen, sustained a fracture to a leg during a race at Zia Park and had to be euthanized. De Genuine Queen had been inspected by a veterinarian by random lottery prior to the race and was determined to be sound. Despite this fact, shortly after the race, Zia Park management advised Plaintiffs that they could no longer race at Zia Park because of injuries to Plaintiffs' horses at the track. Zia Park requested the assistance of its Board of Stewards, David Keiter, Ed L'Ecuyer, and Kenneth Hart, to scratch (disqualify) Plaintiffs' other horses that were scheduled to race at Zia Park.
Plaintiffs did not have an opportunity to be heard prior to their exclusion from Zia Park. Plaintiffs protested these actions, claiming that the injuries and deaths were caused by poor track conditions at Zia Park. Earlier that year, a New York Times article on horse racing reported that Zia Park had the second highest incidence of injuries and deaths per race in 2010 and the fourth highest injury and death rate in 2011, more than double the national average for both years. The Stewards at Zia Park failed to investigate Plaintiffs' exclusion from Zia Park, and in effect validated and ratified the exclusion. Plaintiffs complained about their exclusion to the New Mexico Racing Commission, but the Racing Commission likewise failed to investigate the grounds for Plaintiffs' exclusion from Zia Park.
On April 12, 2013, Plaintiffs' horse Jumpn Alegre died shortly after winning a race at Sunland Park. The New York Times article reported that the Sunland Park race track was even more dangerous than Zia Park. A necropsy of Jumpn Alegre established that it had died of pulmonary hemorrhage, and the necropsy did not disclose any prohibited drugs in Jumpn Alegre's system that might have contributed to the pulmonary hemorrhage. The next day, the Board of Stewards of Sunland Park and Rick Baugh, now the Manager at Sunland Park, without consulting Plaintiffs, decided to exclude Plaintiffs from further racing at the track because of the death of Jumpn Alegre and their record at New Mexico race tracks. The Stewards of Sunland Park and Baugh jointly informed Plaintiffs of this decision. The Board also scratched a horse owned by Plaintiffs set to run the following day.
Sunland Park management contacted the SunRay Park and Ruidoso Downs race tracks to notify them that Jumpn Alegre had died following its race. Shortly afterwards, both SunRay Park and Ruidoso Downs excluded Plaintiffs from racing at their race tracks, again without any prior consultation with Plaintiffs, citing the death of Jumpn Alegre at Sunland Park and Plaintiffs' record at New Mexico race tracks.
The Stewards at Sunland Park, SunRay Park, and Ruidoso Downs failed to investigate Plaintiffs' exclusion from racing at these tracks. Further, the Racing Commission failed to investigate the grounds for Plaintiffs' exclusion from Sunland Park, SunRay Park, and Ruidoso Downs.
The only New Mexico track that did not exclude Plaintiffs from racing was the Downs at Albuquerque. However, racing at a single New Mexico race track could not justify the expense of maintaining a stable of race horses, and when Plaintiffs were unable to get a hearing or an investigation of their exclusion by the Stewards at the race tracks or by the Racing Commission, Plaintiffs were forced to sell their horses and give up racing.
Plaintiffs acknowledge that they have previously filed a lawsuit in state court challenging their exclusion from the race tracks. Plaintiffs filed suit in August of 2013, seeking a writ of mandamus, injunctive relief, and declaratory judgment, and also including counts for interference with contractual relations, prima facie tort, negligence, and an Inspection of Public Records claim. Plaintiffs did not make any claims for violations of their civil rights in the state court lawsuit. The state court granted summary judgment to Zia Park, LLC; My Way Holdings, LLC; SunRay Gaming of New Mexico, LLC; Ruidoso Downs Racing, Inc.; and Rick Baugh, on the ground that the race tracks had a common law right to exclude any person from their property for any lawful reason. The case is currently on appeal before the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
Cases discussing the preclusive effects of a prior lawsuit have used varying and confusing terminology, and the parties have used different terms in briefing the issues presented in this...
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