Statharos v. NYC Taxi and Limo Comm'n
| Decision Date | 01 August 1999 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 99-7522 |
| Citation | 198 F.3d 317 |
| Parties | (2nd Cir. 1999) STEVEN STATHAROS, THEODORE STATHAROS, DOROTHY STATHAROS, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NEW YORK CITY TAXI AND LIMOUSINE COMMISSION, Defendant-Appellee |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (John S. Martin, Jr., Judge) denying plaintiffs-appellants' application for a preliminary injunction.
Affirmed.
JOHN C. BRENNAN, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
HELEN P. BROWN, Office of the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, New York, NY (Michael D. Hess, Corporation Counsel, Kristen M. Helmers, and Deborah Rand, on the brief), for Defendant-Appellee.
Before: KEARSE, CALABRESI, and STRAUB, Circuit Judges.
Steven, Theodore, and Dorothy Statharos appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (John S. Martin, Jr., J.) denying their application for a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of financial disclosure requirements set forth in a regulation promulgated by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (the "Commission") for shareholders, officers, and directors of corporations owning taxi medallions.
We affirm.
The Statharoses are shareholders in several small, closely-held corporations, each of which owns two taxi medallions. Dorothy Statharos holds 100% of the stock in Chablis Cab Corp. and Roxy Cab Corp. and 50% of the stock in Lettuce Cab Corp. and Hero Cab Corp. She also owns 50% of the stock of TDS Cab Corp. Her sons, Steven and Theodore, together own the remaining 50% of TDS.
The regulation at issue, 35 Rules of the City of New York ("RCNY") 1-02(l) (the "Financial Disclosure Rule" or the "Rule"), was adopted by the Commission on May 28, 1998, as part of a package of rules intended to reform the taxi industry. The regulation provides:
Each individual medallion owner, member of a partnership owning one or more medallion taxicabs, or shareholder, director or officer of any corporation owning one or more medallion taxicabs shall furnish to the Commission a financial disclosure statement, executed under oath, together with all attachments and documentation required by the Commission. This disclosure statement will be completed on a form provided by the Commission, and shall include but not be limited to the entire disclosure of assets, liabilities, income and net worth of the owner, partner, shareholder, officer or director.
Id. In a Statement of Basis and Purpose accompanying the regulations, the Commission noted that the Financial Disclosure Rule "will enable the Commission to protect the public by assuring that medallion owners have sufficient income and assets to operate their businesses, and sufficient assets available to protect the public in the event of serious personal injury and/or other loss where the medallion owner is held liable." The Financial Disclosure Rule complements another new requirement that compels officers and shareholders of medallion-owning corporations to disclose all other licensed taxis in which they have a financial interest. See 35 RCNY 1-02(g).
The new regulations were immediately challenged in New York state court by medallion owners. In New York City Committee for Taxi Safety v. New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, 677 N.Y.S.2d 449 (1998), the New York Supreme Court upheld almost all of them, including 1-02(g), but struck down the Financial Disclosure Rule as not being rationally related to a valid government objective. See id. at 455. The court acknowledged that the Commission's stated goal was legitimate, but found that disclosure of financial information, in the absence of minimum capitalization requirements for medallion-owning corporations, did nothing to further that purpose. See id.
The Appellate Division reversed the trial court's holding on the Financial Disclosure Rule and reinstated the regulation. See New York City Comm. for Taxi Safety v. New York City Taxi & Limousine Comm'n, 681 N.Y.S.2d 509 (1st Dep't 1998). It characterized the objective of the regulation as "assuring sufficient information to identify taxicab owners who have abused the corporate form by fragmenting their ownership into many undercapitalized corporations in order to shield assets from persons injured as a result of a taxicab's negligence," and concluded that "[t]he choice of the appropriate means for achieving this legitimate objective is well within the authority delegated to [the Commission]." Id. at 510.
After the Financial Disclosure Rule was upheld by the Appellate Division, the Commission prepared a Financial Disclosure Report Form (the "Form") to implement the regulation. All applicants for new or renewal medallion owner's licenses (including all shareholders, officers, or directors of corporations owning medallions, as well as individual owners) are now required to file the Form. The Form requires disclosure - rounded to the nearest $1,000 - of (1) all personal and corporate bank accounts, (2) gifts in excess of $500, (3) interests in trusts or estates, (4) investments in any businesses, (5) ownership of any securities, (6) ownership of any real estate, (7) all income received and the source of the income, (8) any transfers of money or property during the reporting year, (9) liability and debt information (including personal and consumer debt, as well as corporate debt), (10) any interest of a spouse or minor children in a Commission-regulated business, and (11) any outstanding civil judgments or tax liens against the applicant or the applicant's spouse or minor children.
The Form contains a "Privacy Notification" that provides:
The information obtained on this Form will be used by the Taxi and Limousine Commission to determine whether or not the filer complies with the rules of the Commission with respect to taxicab ownership, and whether or not the individual meets the requirements of ownership and is of good moral character, as required by the Commission rules.
No representation is made herein as to whether or not the information contained on this Form is disclosable to a member of the public pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). If you believe that any information contained herein should be withheld from public inspection on the ground that disclosure of such information would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy, you may assert your basis for this claim below. The Commission will consider this claim in the event disclosure pursuant to FOIL is requested.
A blank space for the applicant's use follows.
On January 21, 1999, plaintiffs brought this action in the district court, seeking to enjoin the Financial Disclosure Rule and to have it declared unconstitutional, on the grounds that it violated their right to privacy (in part because the information it sought was too broad); that it contained no provision shielding the disclosed information from public scrutiny; and that the Commission lacked authority to promulgate it. Subsequently, plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction.
Shortly thereafter, in an unpublished memorandum opinion, the district court denied plaintiffs' application for a preliminary injunction, finding that plaintiffs had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of any of their claims. In early June, the district court denied plaintiffs' motion for a stay pending appeal. And on June 29, this Court also denied plaintiffs' request for a stay, on the condition that during the pendency of the appeal, the Commission would not disclose the telephone numbers or home addresses of the plaintiffs (as stated on their Financial Disclosure Forms) to any third party. The plaintiffs then filed their Financial Disclosure Forms with the Commission, but requested that no information be released to the public without their written consent.
On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in denying their request for a preliminary injunction because (1) the Commission lacked authority to promulgate the Financial Disclosure Rule; and (2) the Rule violates their constitutional right to privacy (a) by mandating disclosure of their personal financial information to the Commission and (b) by failing to provide adequate standards governing the release of personal financial information to the public, once such information has been filed with the Commission.
We review a district court's denial of a preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion. See Otokoyama Co. Ltd. v. Wine of Japan Import, Inc., 175 F.3d 266, 270 (2d Cir. 1999). A district court abuses its discretion when it applies an incorrect legal standard or relies on findings of fact that are clearly in error. See King v. Innovation Books, 976 F.2d 824, 828 (2d Cir. 1992).
A preliminary injunction may be granted only when the party seeking the injunction establishes that "1) absent injunctive relief, it will suffer irreparable harm, and 2) either a) that it is likely to succeed on the merits, or b) that there are sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation, and that the balance of hardships tips decidedly in favor of the moving party." Otokoyama, 175 F.3d at 270. When, however, the injunction "seeks to prevent government action taken pursuant to statutory authority, which is presumed to be in the public interest," only the likelihood of success standard applies. Molloy v. Metropolitan Transp. Auth., 94 F.3d 808, 811 (2d Cir. 1996).
The Taxi and Limousine Commission is established pursuant to the New York City Charter, which defines its purpose as "the continuance, further development and improvement of taxi and limousine service in the city of New York." N.Y. City...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Russo
...proper governmental interest.'' Doe v. Attorney General of the United States, supra, 796; see also Statharos v. New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, 198 F.3d 317, 323 (2d Cir. 1999) (''[t]his confidentiality interest is not absolute . . . and can be overcome by a sufficiently weighty ......
-
In re Cbi Holding Co., Inc.
...trustee sought to assert, it was interpreting state law and its judgment binds us if still in force. Cf. Statharos v. N.Y. City Taxi & Limo. Comm'n, 198 F.3d 317, 321 (2d Cir.1999) ("The ruling of an intermediate appellate state court . . . is a datum for ascertaining state law which is not......
-
In re Sterling Foster & Co., Inc., Securities Lit.
...is convinced by other persuasive data that the highest court of the state would decide otherwise.'" Statharos v. New York City Taxi and Limousine Comm'n, 198 F.3d 317, 321 (2d Cir.1999) (quoting West v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 311 U.S. 223, 237, 61 S.Ct. 179, 85 L.Ed. 139 (1940)). Given t......
-
Miron v. Town of Stratford
...marks omitted).The right to privacy remains “one of the less delineated constitutional guarantees.” Statharos v. New York City Taxi & Limousine Comm'n, 198 F.3d 317, 322 (2d Cir.1999). Potential violations of this right to privacy in personal information and matters have been analyzed as vi......
-
Lex-praxis of Education Informational Privacy for Public Schoolchildren
...190, 195--96 (3d Cir. 2000); Denius v. Dunlap, 209 F.3d 944, 955--56 (7th Cir. 2000); Statharos v. N.Y. City Taxi and Limousine Comm'n, 198 F.3d 317, 322--23 (2d Cir. 1999); In re Crawford, 194 F.3d 954, 958--59 (9th Cir. 1999); Cantu v. Rocha, 77 F.3d 795, 806 (5th Cir. 1996); Eagle v. Mor......