State Dept. of Highway Safety v. Rendon

• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Cope
• Citation: State Dept. of Highway Safety v. Rendon, 957 So.2d 647 (Fla. App. 2007)
• Decision Date: 21 February 2007
• Docket Number: No. 3D02-611.,3D02-611.
• Parties: STATE of Florida DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES; Fred O. Dickinson, III, in his official capacity as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; Florida Department of Transportation; Ben G. Watts, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, Appellants, v. Sergio RENDON, Joann M. Norris, James J. Silcock, Paul L. Lussier, Stephen R. Fisher, and Lois Busick, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellees.

957 So.2d 647

STATE of Florida DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES; Fred O. Dickinson, III, in his official capacity as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; Florida Department of Transportation; Ben G. Watts, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, Appellants, v. Sergio RENDON, Joann M. Norris, James J. Silcock, Paul L. Lussier, Stephen R. Fisher, and Lois Busick, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellees.

No. 3D02-611.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

February 21, 2007.

Rehearing Denied June 8, 2007.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Christopher M. Kise, Solicitor General, and Louis F. Hubener, Chief Deputy Solicitor General, for appellants.

Karen A. Gievers, Tallahassee; Robert G. Fegers, Winter Haven; Peterson & Myers and Stephen R. Senn, Lakeland, and J. Davis Connor, Winter haven; Michael F. Lanham, Miami and Robert J. Antonello, Winter Haven, for appellees.

Before COPE, C.J., and RAMIREZ and ROTHENBERG^*, JJ.

On Remand from the United States Supreme Court

COPE, C.J.

This class action challenged the fees which were imposed by the State of Florida for issuance and renewal of disabled parking permits. The trial court granted declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief, ruling that the fees violated a regulation promulgated under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). We affirm the declaratory and injunctive relief, but remand the issue of monetary relief to the trial court for further proceedings.

I.

In 2001 the trial court entered its class action judgment, and the defendants¹ appealed to this court. This court's opinion summarized the proceedings as follows:

Various handicapped drivers sued the agency in a class action for declaratory and injunctive relief and to recover fees paid for parking placards that allow them to park in spaces reserved for the handicapped. The complaint alleged that the imposition of the fee violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], specifically 42 U.S.C. § 12132, and 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(f), a Department of Justice regulation implementing Title II. The regulation provides that

A public entity may not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the costs of measures, such as the provision of auxiliary aids or program accessibility, that are required to provide that individual or group with the nondiscriminatory treatment required by the Act or this part.

Until 2002, the State charged a $15.00 fee for the handicapped parking placards. See Fla. Stat. § 320.0848(2)(c) (2001). As of 2002, that fee has been replaced by an administrative processing charge of $1.50. Ch.2002-20, § 121 at p. 577, Laws of Fla.

History of the Litigation

Plaintiffs first filed their actions in federal court; those actions were dismissed on the grounds that the Federal Tax Injunction Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1341, "divests the federal courts of subject matter jurisdiction over claims challenging state taxation procedures where the state courts provide a `plain, speedy and efficient remedy.'" Lussier v. State of Florida, Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, 972 F.Supp. 1412, 1417 (M.D.Fla.1997); see also Rendon v. State of Florida, Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, 930 F.Supp. 601 (S.D.Fla.1996). Both district courts held that Florida's surcharge for handicapped parking placards constituted a tax, and that plaintiffs' remedies were in state court, pursuant to section 320.0848, Florida Statutes. "Insofar as the state court has jurisdiction over ADA cases, 42 U.S.C. § 12202, the Court finds that Plaintiffs may raise all challenges to the surcharge under Fla. Stat. Ann. § 320.0848, including claims that the surcharge violates the ADA, in the state court." Rendon, 930 F.Supp. at 605. Having ruled that they lacked subject matter jurisdiction, the courts did not reach the merits of the actions.

In 1996, plaintiffs filed a class action complaint against the agency in state court, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and damages consisting of repayment of the allegedly unlawful parking placard tax. The trial court granted class certification; denied defendants' motion to dismiss; denied the agency's motion for summary judgment; and granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. The trial court ruled, inter alia,

1) that plaintiffs did not have to first exhaust administrative remedies before challenging the tax as a violation of the ADA;

2) that the action was not time-barred by the three-year claim period specified in section 215.26(2), Florida Statutes; and

3) that sovereign immunity had been waived under Title II of the ADA.

The court declared that "Florida's statutory scheme of requiring the payment of a fee for a disabled parking permit under Fla. Stat. § 320.0848 violates Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act." The court enjoined the State from requiring the payment of any fee for a handicapped parking permit from future permit applicants, and ordered the State to reimburse plaintiffs for parking permit fees collected since January 26, 1992, plus interest.

State of Fla., Dept. of Highway Safety v. Rendon, 832 So.2d 141, 142-44 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002) ("Rendon I"), review denied, 851 So.2d 729 (Fla.2003), vacated, 541 U.S. 1059, 124 S.Ct. 2387, 158 L.Ed.2d 960 (2004).

This court reversed the class action judgment, holding that Title II of the ADA did not abrogate Florida's Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit. Rendon I, 832 So.2d at 145-47. For the same reason, this court also held that the United States Department of Justice "exceeded its rulemaking authority in enacting 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(f), which bars the imposition of any surcharge for accessibility programs and measures." Id. at 146 (citing Brown v. North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, 166 F.3d 698 (4th Cir.1999)). Rendon I, 832 So.2d at 146. The Florida Supreme Court denied review. Rendon v. Fla. Dept. of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, 851 So.2d 729 (Fla.2003).

The United States Supreme Court granted the plaintiffs' petition for writ of certiorari, vacated this court's judgment, and remanded the matter to this court for further consideration in light of Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509, 124 S.Ct. 1978, 158 L.Ed.2d 820 (2004). In Lane, the Court held that Congress acted within its powers under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment when it enacted Title II of the ADA, as applied to disabled persons' rights of access to judicial services. Id. at 513, 531, 124 S.Ct. 1978; see also United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151, 126 S.Ct. 877, 163 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006). On remand, the appeal was rebriefed and reargued. As this court's judgment was vacated in its entirety, we have revisited all of the issues on appeal. We now affirm in part and reverse in part.

II.

We begin by considering the nature of Eleventh Amendment immunity as it applies to a case pending in state court. For a state court suit, Eleventh Amendment immunity is in substance the State's sovereign immunity against being sued for damages without the State's consent. See Lane, 541 U.S. at 517, 124 S.Ct. 1978; Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 711-13, 119 S.Ct. 2240, 144 L.Ed.2d 636 (1999).²

Important for present purposes, Eleventh Amendment (or sovereign) immunity bars an unconsented action against a state for damages, but does not bar a suit for nonmonetary relief, such as an injunction. This point was made in Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 121 S.Ct. 955, 148 L.Ed.2d 866 (2001), where Eleventh Amendment immunity barred plaintiff's action for damages under Title I of the ADA, but did not bar injunctive relief. Garrett, 531 U.S. at 374 n. 9, 121 S.Ct. 955.

III.

In this case the plaintiffs sought nonmonetary relief in the form of a declaratory judgment and an injunction. As the Garrett decision explains, Eleventh Amendment immunity does not bar claims for nonmonetary relief. It follows that the declaratory judgment and injunction in this case are not barred by Eleventh Amendment immunity—a conclusion also reached by this court's panel in Rendon I. See 832 So.2d at 146.

Turning to the merits, at the time the trial court entered judgment, Florida charged a $15 fee for disabled parking permits, which were good for four years. The trial court ruled that these fees violated 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(f), which states that "[a] public entity may not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the costs of measures, such as the provision of auxiliary aids or program accessibility, that are required to provide that individual or group with the nondiscriminatory treatment required by the Act or this part."

On November 14, 2001, the trial court entered its declaratory judgment that Florida's fees for a disabled parking permit violated the federal regulation and thereby the ADA. On that date the court enjoined the defendants from requiring the payment of any fee for a disabled parking permit for future permit applications. We conclude that the trial court correctly interpreted the federal regulation.

The next question is whether the federal regulation is valid. The prior panel held that the Department of Justice had exceeded its rulemaking authority in enacting 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(f). Rendon I, 832 So.2d at 146. For that proposition the panel relied on the Fourth Circuit decision in Brown v. North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, 166 F.3d at 706-08.

On further consideration, we conclude that Brown does not apply to an action for nonmonetary relief. Brown was a suit for damages against the State of North Carolina, seeking to recover the disabled parking permit fees that plaintiffs had paid. Under Eleventh Amendment precedent, it is possible for Congress to enact a federal law which will override a...