International Union, Local 150 v. Orland Park, 00 C 5993.
| Decision Date | 04 May 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 00 C 5993.,00 C 5993. |
| Citation | 139 F.Supp.2d 950 |
| Parties | INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL 150, AFL-CIO, Plaintiff, v. VILLAGE OF ORLAND PARK, Village of Orland Park Police Department and the Cook County Forest Preserve District, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
It would be easy to minimize the significance of this case by disclosing that a central part of this dispute involves an inflatable rat figure. Yet, this case involves important principles of labor picketing which are protected by the First Amendment right to free speech and assembly. Plaintiff, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, AFL-CIO ("Local 150") filed this lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for alleged violations of its constitutional rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and its statutory rights under § 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 157. Currently before this Court are Defendants', Village of Orland Park ("Orland Park"), Village of Orland Park Police Department ("Police Department") and the Cook County Forest Preserve District ("Forest Preserve"), motions for summary judgment and the Forest Preserve's motion to dismiss.
This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a)(3). For the following reasons, we deny Orland Park's and the Police Department's joint motion for summary judgment, (R. 22-1), grant in part and deny in part the Forest Preserve's motion for summary judgment, (R. 19-1), and deny the Forest Preserve's motion to dismiss, (R. 19-2). We also grant partial summary judgment to Local 150 and grant its motion for a preliminary injunction against Defendants, (R. 15-1), to the extent indicated herein.
Most of the facts in this case are undisputed. To the extent that the parties disagree about the facts, we will explain the nature of the disagreement.
Local 150 became involved in a labor dispute with Crystal Tree Golf and Country Club ("Crystal Tree") following a September 2000 election in which Crystal Tree's groundskeepers apparently elected Local 150 as their exclusive representative. Crystal Tree's main entrance is on the south side of 143rd Street in Orland Park. Property owned by the Forest Preserve is on the north side of 143rd Street. Both Orland Park and the Forest Preserve are governmental entities proscribed from infringing upon individual rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
On September 22, 2000, Local 150 began to lawfully picket Crystal Tree. As part of its efforts, Local 150's members temporarily staked a large, inflatable rat in the ground on the north side of 143rd Street. In addition, union members placed signs in the ground and parked their cars on the same strip of Forest Preserve property. The picketers, some of whom were dressed in rat costumes, carried signs and drove a "ratmobile" up and down 143rd Street. At the end of each day of picketing, union members removed the signs, the inflatable rat and their cars.
The strip of Forest Preserve property that Local 150 had been using is a grassy area that has no sidewalks, driveways or parking lots. On September 27, 2000, the Forest Preserve told Local 150 that it would have to move the signs, the inflatable rat and their cars because Forest Preserve regulations prohibited such activity, and Local 150 did not have the requisite permits enabling it to use Forest Preserve property. Local 150 complied and moved the signs and the rat to the south side of 143rd Street, which is Orland Park property. Although the Forest Preserve recommended that Local 150 park its cars in a Forest Preserve parking lot several blocks away, Local 150 moved its vehicles to 108th Street in Orland Park, where it had previously been permitted to park a small number of cars. The picketing continued on public property in front of Crystal Tree's main entrance.
Subsequently, Local 150 submitted a pre-printed application form to the Forest Preserve for a special activity permit. Local 150's application was denied by the Forest Preserve Superintendent of Recreation, who has sold discretion to grant or deny permit applications. The superintendent's reasons for denying the permit were that the requested area was not one for which a permit could issue and Local 150's activities would create safety and environmental problems. The Forest Preserve also determined that, because the Illinois Department of Transportation ("IDOT") has an easement on the Forest Preserve property, Local 150 needed permission from IDOT before the Forest Preserve could grant a permit. Local 150 did not seek permission from IDOT but, instead, continued to picket on the Orland Park side of 143rd Street.
Also on September 27, 2000, the Police Department notified Local 150 that its inflatable rat violated Orland Park's sign ordinance and could not be re-erected the following day. When the rat was blown up and staked in the ground on September 28, 2000, the Police Department confiscated the rat and issued a citation to Local 150 for violating Orland Park's sign ordinance. The Police Department also ordered Local 150 to remove its cars from 108th Street, claiming that the increased number of cars created a safety hazard. Local 150 removed its cars. The Police Department returned the rat to Local 150 after the union agreed that it would not use the rat during its picketing activities. All picketing stopped on or about October 22, 2000, following an agreement between Local 150 and Crystal Tree to cease picketing until a new election was held in December 2000.
Presently before the Court are Local 150's motions for summary judgment and for a preliminary injunction and damages. Local 150 alleges that the Forest Preserve's special activity permit procedure is an unlawful prior restraint on First Amendment rights of free speech because it allows a Forest Preserve official unfettered discretion to deny or approve a permit application. Local 150 also contends that Orland Park's sign ordinance is an invalid time, place or manner regulation that violates Local 150's constitutional rights of free speech and its statutory rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Moreover, Local 150 asserts that Orland Park's sign ordinance has been applied in a discriminatory fashion because the Police Department has enforced the ordinance only two times since Orland Park's Public Works Department was charged with enforcing the regulation, and both times union activities were involved.
Also before the Court are Defendants' motion for summary judgment and the Forest Preserve's motion to dismiss. Defendants claim that their ordinances are valid time, place or manner regulations. Orland Park and the Police Department contend that they apply Orland Park's sign ordinance in a non-discriminatory manner. The Forest Preserve argues that its permit procedure is legal.
There are three ordinances at issue in this case. Two are Forest Preserve regulations. The third is an Orland Park ordinance. The Forest Preserve's permit procedure is also at issue.
The Forest Preserve regulations restrict driving and the placing of signs on Forest Preserve property as follows:
It shall be unlawful for the operator of any automobile ... to drive ... through any woodland or upon any walk, sidewalk, path or trail ... within the property of the Forest Preserve Forest Preserve ... except in the manner and according to the regulations prescribed by the Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners.
(R. 25, Forest Preserve's 56.1(a) Statement of Facts, Ex. E, Ordinance 4-1-5.)
No person shall display, distribute, post or fix any placard ... or any other writing containing advertising matter within any forest preserve or upon any of the property of the Forest Preserve Forest Preserve.
(Id., Ex. E, Ordinance 3-3-8.)
The Forest Preserve also requires that persons wishing to engage in activities on Forest Preserve property obtain a permit. There are three types of permits available: (1) picnic permits; (2) special use permits; and (3) special activity permits. .) At issue in this case is the procedure by which a party may obtain a special activity permit. The procedure involves completing a form that requests the applicant's contact information, the date and location for which the permit is sought and a description of the proposed activity. The applicant must pay a nominal permit application fee and provide proof of insurance that will indemnify the Forest Preserve. (R. 32, Pl.'s Resp. to the Forest Preserve's 56.1(a) Statement of Facts, Ex. L, Special Activity Permit Process.) The Forest Preserve Superintendent of Recreation reviews the application and either grants or denies the permit. (Id., Ex. A, Vito Benigno Dep. Tr. at 19, 45.)
The Orland Park regulation was promulgated to reduce visual clutter and congestion for aesthetic and safety reasons. The regulation prohibits placing private signs on public property and states, in pertinent part:
Prohibited Signs. Except as specifically provided otherwise ... the following signs and displays shall be strictly prohibited throughout the Village:
....
3. Signs in public rights-of-way which are not public signs, except for banners on light poles as approved by the Village Board.
(Id., Ex. E, Orland Park Sign Regulation § 6-307(M)(3).)
Summary judgment is proper only when the record shows "that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A genuine issue for trial exists only when "the evidence is such that a reasonable...
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