Monjitas, et al v. Pedro-Gordian

Filing 920091123

Opinion

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var WPFootnote1 = 'These facts are drawn from the findings made by the district\
court as set forth in its amended opinion and order granting\
preliminary injunction after fifty-one days of hearings between\
February 2005 and August 2006. Defendants do not challenge the\
district court\'s factual determinations on appeal. Vaquería Tres\
Monjitas, Inc. v. Fabre Laboy, No. 04-1840, slip op. at 7-44\
(D.P.R. July 13, 2007).\
'

var WPFootnote2 = 'Previous pleadings refer to Juan R. Pedro-Gordian, who was the\
Administrator at the time when they were filed. "[W]hen officials\
sued in [their official] capacity in federal court die or leave\
office, their successors automatically assume roles in the\
litigation." Hafer v. Melo, 502 U.S. 21, 25 (1991); see Fed. R.\
Civ. P. 25(d)(1).\
'

var WPFootnote3 = 'Previous pleadings refer to José O. Fabre-Laboy, who was the\
Secretary at the time when they were filed.\
'

var WPFootnote4 = 'At first, Indulac paid 10 cents per quart of surplus raw milk,\
though it would, when it saw fit, contribute more directly to\
farmers. Vaquería Tres Monjitas, No. 04-1840, at *19. In February\
2006, ORIL changed this price to 32 cents. Id. at *27. The same\
order set the price milk processors paid for the raw milk at 66\
cents per quart. Id. at *30.\
'

var WPFootnote5 = 'Plaintiff Suiza applied for, and was denied, a license to\
process UHT milk itself.\
'

var WPFootnote6 = 'Indulac\'s payments to farmers became necessary to remedy the\
decrease in the farmers\' compensation that resulted from the\
decline of the fresh milk market. The district court explains:\
\
              When the demand for fresh milk falls, less fresh milk is\
retained and less milk at the higher price went\
originally into the weighted average calculation . . .\
from which the farmer is paid for its raw milk. Stated\
differently, a decrease in the demand of fresh milk (made\
from retained milk) and an increase in the demand for UHT\
(made from surplus) affected negatively the farmer\'s\
average and now the possibility of paying the farmer at\
the established level.\
\
Vaquería Tres Monjitas, No. 04-1840, at *23.\
'

var WPFootnote7 = 'While, initially, the Board of Indulac consisted of a mixture of\
dairy farmers and milk processors, the farmers increasingly\
dominated the Board until December of 2002, when its bylaws were\
officially amended to exclude milk processors altogether. During\
this time, ORIL\'s regulations were also amended to dilute the power\
of milk processors on its Administrative Board. Vaquería Tres\
Monjitas, No. 04-1840, at *24-25; Act of Dec. 19, 2002, No. 278, 5\
P.R. Laws Ann. 1099(e) (2005 & Supp. 2008).\
'

var WPFootnote8 = 'Such reductions were routinely permitted for Indulac.\
'

var WPFootnote9 = 'In contrast to ORIL\'s consideration of plaintiffs\' non-milk\
profits, Indulac\'s non-milk profits were not taken into\
consideration.\
'

var WPFootnote10 = 'This is merely ORIL\'s estimated figure. In fact, evidence\
before the district court showed that plaintiffs never achieved a\
10% rate of return, and even suffered heavy losses. In the fiscal\
year 2001, Tres Monjitas and Suiza jointly sustained loses of six\
million eight hundred and ninety six thousand dollars\
($6,896,000.00). In 2002, their losses totaled eight million three\
hundred and sixty four thousand dollars ($8,364,000.00); and in\
2003, they lost ten million dollars ($10,000,000.00). See Motion\
Requesting Injunctive Relief Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(a), Docket\
No. 2, p.12.\
'

var WPFootnote11 = 'The district court found that plaintiffs "have suffered for the\
periods from 2003 to 2007 a Due Process and Equal Protection\
violation reaching levels of a \'taking.\'"\
'

var WPFootnote12 = 'Defendants Indulac and PRDFA also filed motions to stay the\
injunction pending appeal, which were dismissed voluntarily.\
'

var WPFootnote13 = 'In NOPSI, the Court held that a federal court did not need to\
abstain from deciding whether the Federal Energy Regulatory\
Commission\'s decision that a utility\'s participation in a nuclear\
power plant venture was reasonable preempts a state agency\'s\
determination of reasonableness of the same issue.\
'

var WPFootnote14 = '"In a period of no more than thirty (30) days, the Administrator\
will put into effect nondiscriminatory, rational and scientific\
regulatory standards that will allow him to determine costs and\
fair profits return for all the participants in the Puerto Rico\
regulated milk market." Vaquería Tres Monjitas, No. 04-1840, at\
*94.\
'

var WPFootnote15 = '"The Administrator shall perform a study as to the economic\
realities of doing business in Puerto Rico and the particular \'fit\'\
of Puerto Rico into any economic model which may be used from other\
jurisdictions." Vaquería Tres Monjitas, No. 04-1840, at *94.\
'

var WPFootnote16 = '"When the Administrator eventually determines to change the\
price to be paid to said dairy farmers, all market participants\
using raw milk to process fluid milk will pay the same amount for\
the milk." Vaquería Tres Monjitas, No. 04-1840, at *94.\
'

var WPFootnote17 = 'As it stands, the surcharge is 1.5 cents per quart.\
'

var WPFootnote18 = 'Since the Due Process Clause violation is sufficient for the\
district court\'s grant of injunctive relief, we see no need to\
reach the Court\'s determinations regarding the likelihood of\
success on the Equal Protection and Takings Clause claims. That we\
refrain from reaching these issues should not be regarded as a\
commentary on their relative merits.\
'

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