Enjoi Transp., LLC v. City of Detroit
| Decision Date | 21 February 2019 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 17-13052 |
| Parties | ENJOI TRANSPORTATION, LLC, and PAULETTE HAMILTON, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF DETROIT, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
This case arises out of the breakdown of a contractual relationship between Plaintiff Enjoi Transportation LLC ("Enjoi") and Defendant Transdev Services, Inc. ("Transdev"). In its amended complaint, Enjoi asserts 19 different claims against various defendants that sound in contract, tort, and constitutional law. At its core, however, this is a case alleging racial discrimination. Pending before the court are cross-motions for summary judgment that address all of Enjoi's remaining claims. These motions have been fully briefed, and the court held a hearing on February 8, 2019. Upon consideration of the parties' filings and arguments, the court will deny Enjoi's motion and grant Defendants' motions for summary judgment on all of Enjoi's claims.
Unless otherwise stated, the facts related here are undisputed. Enjoi is a Detroit-based transportation services company owned and operated by Plaintiff Paulette Hamilton and her husband, Gregory Lynn. (Dkt. #56, PageID 1841.) Both Hamilton and Lynn are African American. (Id.)
Transdev is a privately-owned Maryland corporation. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1069-70.) Transdev was selected by Defendant City of Detroit ("Detroit") to administer Detroit's MetroLift program—a "paratransit" program offering public transportation services to residents who cannot use regular city public busing due to physical or mental disability. At the times relevant to this lawsuit, Defendant Dan Dirks served as director of Detroit's Department of Transportation ("DDOT"), and Defendant Martin Moore worked for Transdev as manager of the Detroit/Transdev contract. (Dkt. #78, PageID 2603.) Transdev subcontracted with Enjoi, among others, to provide drivers and vehicles for the MetroLift program.
In April, 2015, Detroit issued a Request for Proposal for a new provider to facilitate the MetroLift program. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1068.) The winning provider would be responsible for operating all aspects of the MetroLift program, including the reservation, customer service, and dispatch centers, on-street operations, and scheduling software. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1070.) A team of city employees, including Dirks, evaluated the bids received for the Request for Proposal. (Dkt. #56, PageID 1846.) Transdev submitted a bid which proposed subcontracting with Enjoi and three other local providers to furnishvehicles and drivers for the MetroLift program. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1071.) Enjoi also submitted a bid for the Request for Proposal (Dkt. #60-4, PageID 2037), although none of Enjoi's claims presented here relate to the bid-selection process.1 The evaluation committee ultimately selected Transdev's bid. In February 2016, Transdev entered into a five-year contract with the City of Detroit. (Dkt. #56, PageID 1848.) The contract was funded without any federal assistance, (Dkt. #78, PageID 2604), a fact that Enjoi concedes while also asserting, without citation to any evidence in the record, that Detroit used federal funds to buy vans for the MetroLift Program. (Dkt. #81, PageID 2737.)
In March 2016, Transdev hired Defendant Martin Moore as General Manager for the Detroit/Transdev contract. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1072.) Matthew Wood, who is not a defendant in this case, served as the Project Manager on the contract and Moore's supervisor. (Id. at 1085.)
As part of its contract with Defendant City, Transdev was required to "negotiate contracts with local providers" (Dkt. #56, PageID 1849), which Transdev began to do once it was awarded the contract with Detroit. (Id. at PageID 1850.) Transdev intended to use a new trip-routing system, known as "Ecolane," to operate the MetroLift program. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1072; Dkt. #54-13.) In June 2016, Transdev entered into a Transportation Provider Agreement ("TPA") with each of the four transportationproviders—Enjoi, Checker, Delray, and Lakeside—to supply vehicles and drivers for the MetroLift program. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1074.) Checker was the only white-owned transportation provider. (Dkt. #71, PageID 2314; Dkt. #81, PageID 2751.)
In reverent part, the Transdev/Enjoi TPA provided the following terms:
(Dkt. #54-16.)
The terms of the transportation contracts, including trip cost rates, were negotiated individually with each transportation provider. Each provider set its own rates for both ambulatory and non-ambulatory (e.g., a passenger who requires a wheelchair)trips. When Transdev launched the EcoLane system in July 2016, Enjoi had the highest rate for ambulatory trips at $20.99. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1075-76.)
Enjoi alleges through many of its numerous counts that Transdev and Dirks began plotting to terminate the Transdev/Enjoi TPA shortly after Transdev assumed responsibility for MetroLift program in July 2017. It appears that Enjoi bases this allegation on a July 28, 2018 email exchange between two non-parties to this lawsuit, Transdev Vice President, Mathew Wood, and Transdev employee, Dick Alexander. (Dkt. #86, PageID 3737.) In this email, Wood states "[O]ur most costly provider, Enjoi is failing to perform. . . In Fact, Dan gave us the OK to fire Enjoi once we are confident we can handle their work with the other providers." (Dkt. #60-21, PageID 2137.)
Many of Enjoi's claims against Transdev stem from Transdev's alleged manipulation of Enjoi's trip rates and volume. Enjoi alleges that Transdev manipulated criteria used by the Ecolane system to give more trips to another provider, Checker. (Dkt. #81, PageID 2782.)
Less than one month after Transdev implemented the EcoLane system, Enjoi began complaining about its trip volume. On August 1, 2016, Lynn informed Transdev that Enjoi would temporarily lower its ambulatory trip rate from $20.99 to $19.99, hoping to increase its trip volume, which Lynn noted was down from June 2016. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1076.) In response, Moore explained that several factors could be responsible for Enjoi's recent decrease in trip volume:
Yesterday you missed run pull out and that seems to be the normal with Enjoi. It happen [sic] multiple times last week. Your staff is damaging your ability to get trips. Your [sic] have to be on the road and on time all the time or your [sic] going to loose [sic] money. Your on time performance isn't theissue though, you run at about +90% each day. Basically you are in first place with another company. Your ambulatory rate is another issue, it's too high. I'll work with Matt on Monday concerning your price.
(Dkt. #60-15.)
On August 24, 2016, Hamilton offered to reduce Enjoi's ambulatory trip rate for a second time—this time to $17.77—because Enjoi blamed its decreased trip volume on its trip price. (Dkt. #60-14, PageID 2115.) Following several email exchanges on August 30, 2016, Moore equalized the trip rates for all providers in the EcoLane system to $20.00 for ambulatory trips and $21.00 for non-ambulatory trips. (Dkt. #56, PageID 1856.). Transdev asserts that these changes were made in response to Enjoi's complaints and intended to help standardize trip distribution between providers. Enjoi argues that the equalization of trip rates was intended to benefit Checker.
On the same day Moore equalized trip rates in the Ecolane system, Transdev issued Enjoi a notice a breach based on two alleged violations of the Transdev/Enjoi TPA. (Dkt. #54-28, PageID 1323.) Transdev asserted that Enjoi had failed to comply with vehicle inspection requirements (Dkt. #54, PageID 1078-79; Dkt. #54-28) and failed to report an accident. (Dkt. #54, PageID 1077; Dkt. #54-28.) This notice, however, did not state that Transdev intended to terminate the Transdev/Enjoi TPA based...
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