Francis v. Recycling Solutions Inc
| Citation | 695 A.2d 63 |
| Decision Date | 30 January 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-CV-576,No. 95-CV-1044.,No. 95-CV-1063,95-CV-576,95-CV-1063,95-CV-1044. |
| Parties | Esther Hager FRANCIS, Director, District of Columbia Department of Public Works, Appellant, v. RECYCLING SOLUTIONS, INC., Appellee. RECYCLING SOLUTIONS, INC., Appellant, v. Esther Hager FRANCIS, Director, District of Columbia Department of Public Works, Appellee. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Columbia District |
James C McKay, Jr., Assistant Corporation Counsel, with whom Charles F.C. Ruff Corporation Counsel, and Charles Reischel, Deputy Corporation Counsel, were on the brief (Jo Anne Robinson, Interim Corp. Counsel, Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corp. Counsel, and James C. McKay, Jr., Asst. Corp. Counsel, on rehearing), for appellant in Nos. 95-CV-576,-1063, and for appellee in No. 95-CV-1044.
Robert L. Duston Washington, DC, for appellee in Nos. 95-CV-576,-1063, and for appellant in No. 95-CV-1044.
Before FERREN, FARRELL, and REID, Associate Judges.
Esther H. Francis, in her capacity as Director of the District of Columbia Department of Public Works (DPW), brought suit in the Superior Court to vacate an order of the District of Columbia Contract Appeals Board (CAB). Instead of filing this suit against the CAB, however, Francis sued Recycling Solutions, Inc. (RSI), the prevailing party before the CAB. The trial court dismissed Francis's complaint, concluding that: (a) Francis had no statutory authority or any other basis for standing to bring the suit; (b) Francis improperly named RSI, rather than the CAB, as defendant; and (c) the Superior Court in any event lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter, since it was a "contested case" subject solely to this court's direct review. In a second order, the trial court granted RSI's request for costs and attorney's fees as sanctions under Super.Ct.Civ.R. 11; the trial court has not yet settled on the proper dollar amount. The court declined RSI's additional request for a Rule 11 order awarding lost profits. Francis appealed both the dismissal of the lawsuit and the award of sanctions; RSI appealed the court's refusal to award lost profits.
We conclude that the matter was properly before the Superior Court and that the trial court accordingly erred in ruling this was a contested case subject to this court's direct review. For reasons expressed hereinafter, we affirm dismissal of the lawsuit (No. 95-CV-576) for the substantive reasons the trial court cited. The trial court's Rule 11 decision, however, was not a final order since the dollar amount of the sanctions has not been determined. Nor is it an interlocutory order appealable by statute, or upon certification under Super.Ct.Civ.R. 54(b) or pursuant to the collateral order doctrine, or by exercising our appellate jurisdiction "pendent" to resolution of the appealable order dismissing Francis's complaint. We therefore must dismiss Francis's appeal (No. 95-CV-1063) and RSI's related cross-appeal (No. 95-CV-1044).
On February 1, 1993, DPW awarded to Eagle Maintenance Services, Inc. (Eagle) a contract to receive, process, and market recyclables and to buy back recyclables from District residents. RSI, an unsuccessful bidder for the contract, filed a timely protest, and on April 15, 1994 the CAB sustained RSI's protest. The CAB declared DPW's contract with Eagle "void, " ordered DPW to pay RSI's bid preparation costs, and directed DPW to award the contract to RSI if DPW found RSI to be a responsible contractor after a proper determination.
Instead, on May 13, 1994, DPW Director Francis, acting on behalf of DPW, filed in Superior Court a "Complaint for Review of a Contract Appeals Board Protest Decision." Although asserting that "this civil action is in the nature of a review of agency action, analogous to that provided for by Superior Court Agency Review Rule 1, " Francis named RSI, rather than the CAB, as the defendant.1 In the complaint, however, Francis did not seek relief from RSI; she asked the trial court to vacate the CAB order as arbitrary, capricious, and in excess of CAB authority.2
RSI filed an answer and a motion to dismiss the complaint under Super.Ct.Civ.R. 12(b) on June 3, 1994. In the motion to dismiss, RSI argued that the Superior Court did not have jurisdiction because the matter was a "contested case" directly reviewable in the D.C. Court of Appeals.See D.C.Code §§ 1-1509,-1510 (1992 Repl.). RSI also maintained that Francis had no authority or standing to bring the suit, and that Francis should have named the CAB, not RSI, as the defendant. Finally, RSI asked the court to award RSI its costs and attorney's fees as proper sanctions against Francis for filing a suit with no basis in law and/or for a vexatious purpose. See Super.Ct.Civ.R. 11. In her opposition to the motion to dismiss, Francis argued that the Superior Court had jurisdiction, that she had authority and standing to sue as the "real party in interest" under Super.Ct.Civ.R. 17, that RSI was the proper defendant, and that the CAB was not a necessary party for proper resolution of the case. Francis further argued that if the court found either that Francis was the improper plaintiff or that the CAB was a necessary party, the correct solution was to join the required parties rather than to dismiss the suit. SeeSuper.Ct.Civ.R. 17(a), 19.
On April 18, 1995, the trial court dismissed the complaint. The court made explicit findings that essentially adopted all of RSI's arguments. The trial court also ruled that the CAB was a necessary party under Rule 19 but refused to allow Francis to join the CAB because that would "not remedy the wrongful naming of RSI as the Defendant."
The trial court did not make a Rule 11 determination in the April 18 order but asked the parties to brief the matter. In doing so, RSI asked not only for its costs and attorney's fees but also for the profits lost from the date of the CAB order. Francis opposed both the imposition of sanctions and, in the event of sanctions, any award of lost profits. On July 24, 1995, the trial court imposed sanctions under Rule 11, ordering Francis to pay all costs and attorney's fees associated with bringing the action in Superior Court. The court declined to award RSI lost profits, however, concluding that such an award would not be an appropriate sanction but would amount, instead, to an award of "damages for the Plaintiff's refusal to abide by the CAB order."3 In imposing sanctions, the trial court explicitly found that a reasonable prefiling inquiry by Francis would have disclosed that the pleading was not well grounded in fact or warranted by existing law or by a good faith argument for the extension of existing law. The trial court further found reason to conclude that Francis had brought the suit for an improper, vexatious purpose. Francis appealed both the order dismissing the case (No. 95-CV-576) and the order imposing sanctions (No. 95-CV-1063). RSI cross-appealed the part of the sanctions order denying RSI lost profits (No. 95-CV-1044).
While these proceedings were taking place, DPW attempted to suspend the recycling program in response to the District's financial crisis. See generally District of Columbia v. Sierra Club, 670 A.2d 354 (D.C.1996). On May 15, 1995, DPW cancelled its contract with Eagle and issued a new solicitation for an emergency 120-day contract at no cost to the District. RSI filed a protest with the CAB on May 26, arguing that DPW must award the contract to RSI under the terms of the 1994 CAB order. Instead, DPW awarded the new 120-day emergency contract to Eagle.
On August 25, 1995, the CAB issued an order modifying its first order of April 15, 1994. The CAB ruled that, because of the changed nature of the recycling market and the District's finances, DPW need not make a responsibility determination or award a contractto RSI. The CAB also denied RSI's request for money damages, but it did partially grant RSI its bid preparation costs. RSI filed an appeal from this second CAB decision.4 On May 9, 1996, we stayed RSI's appeal of the second CAB order until we decide this case.
As a preliminary matter, we must determine whether we still have jurisdiction to hear this appeal, given DPW's cancellation of the contract with Eagle at issue here. While not bound by the Article III "case or controversy" requirement, we have adopted that requirement for prudential reasons and will not normally decide questions which have become moot. SeeDistrict of Columbia v. Group Ins. Admin., 633 A.2d 2, 12 (D.C. 1993) (hereinafter GIA);Atchison v. District of Columbia, 585 A.2d 150, 153 (D.C.1991). For two reasons, however, we conclude that this case remains a live controversy.
First, we have not yet decided the outcome of RSI's appeal from the second CAB order modifying the 1994 CAB order that provides the foundation of the present suit. See supra note 4. As long as that case remains unresolved, the matter before us is alive, not moot. At the least, we must determine whether the trial court properly concluded that bid protests argued before the CAB are contested cases, since that determination forms the basis for any jurisdiction we would have over RSI's second appeal.5
Second, the Rule 11 sanctions remain a live controversy between the parties. See, e.g., GIA, 633 A.2d at 12 (). Because Francis alleges that her suit was improperly dismissed, and that the court's Rule 11 findings that she failed to make the required prefiling inquiry and filed the suit for a vexatious purpose were unfounded, we must examine the validity of the trial court's decision to dismiss the complaint. See id.
The trial court concluded that this proceeding was a "contested case" and that the trial court accordingly lacked subject...
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FRANCIS v. RECYCLING SOLUTIONS, INC., 95-CV-576
... 695 A.2d 63 Esther Hager FRANCIS, Director, District of Columbia Department ofPublic Works, Appellant, v. RECYCLING SOLUTIONS, INC., Appellee.RECYCLING SOLUTIONS, INC., Appellant, v. Esther Hager FRANCIS, Director,District of Columbia Department of Public Works, Nos. 95-CV-576, 95-CV-1063 ......
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Stuart v. District of Columbia
...that Stuart had no action against the District for specific performance, and thus there is no suit to join. See Francis v. Recycling Solutions, Inc., 695 A.2d 63 (D.C. 1997). In McCulloch, we stated that any claim for relief outside the statutory remedy against the District must lie entirel......