Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—8thCir: Denial of Immunity to Missouri State Highway Patrol Officers Required More Detailed Explanation, (May 22, 2013)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

The federal district court in St. Louis must elaborate on its reasons for rejecting the qualified immunity defense raised by Missouri State Highway Patrol Officers in an action brought by the owners of a towing and wrecker service alleging violations of the antitrust laws and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis today refused to address the merits of the officers' qualified immunity defenses because the lower court “failed to discuss the qualified immunity standard or otherwise demonstrate it was applying the two-step qualified immunity analysis” (Robbins v. Becker, May 22, 2013, Riley, W.).

The owners of the towing service, I-44 Truck Center and Wrecker Service, LLC, brought the action, claiming that the defending officers maliciously conspired with each other and third parties to exclude it from a “rotation list” for selecting wrecker and towing companies to respond to highway accidents. The officers moved for summary judgment based on qualified immunity; however, the district court denied summary judgment, concluding “genuine issues of material fact remain” in dispute. The officers appealed.

The appellate court had jurisdiction to address the qualified immunity issue, because the officers raised only legal issues regarding “the application of qualified immunity principles” to the facts of this case. However, the district court did not resolve the immunity questions with sufficient clarity for the appellate court to effectively exercise its interlocutory review of the legal issues surrounding the denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity, the appellate court explained.

The case is No. 12-3113.

Attorneys: C. John Pleban (Pleban & Petruska) for Mark Robbins. Caleb Mitchell Lewis, Assistant Attorney General for Missouri, for Randy Becker, Sr.

Companies: I-44 Truck Center and Wrecker Service, LLC.

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