ELLEN SEGAL HUVELLE, United States District Judge.
Defendant Paul Benjamin Rodberg is the president and sole owner of Reliable Limousine and Bus Service, LLC ("RLBS"). On February 6, 2013, this Court entered an Order permanently enjoining Rodberg and another entity as to which he was president and sole owner, Reliable Limousine Service, LLC ("RLS"), "from transporting passengers for hire between points within the Metropolitan District unless and until properly authorized by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission ("WMATC")." (Order, Feb. 6, 2013 [Dkt. No. 24] at 1.) Since that Order, it is undisputed that RLBS (as opposed to RLS) has transported passengers for hire between points within the Metropolitan District without authorization from WMATC. (Show Cause Hr'g Tr., Sept. 25, 2013 at 23.) On September 25, 2013, this Court ordered Rodberg to show cause "why this Court should not amend its February 6, 2013 Order to enjoin any entity created or controlled, directly or indirectly, by [him], including [RLBS], from transporting passengers for hire between points within the Metropolitan District unless and until that entity is properly authorized by the WMATC." (Order, Sept. 25, 2013 [Dkt. No. 37] at 2.) Having considered Rodberg and RLBS's response to the motion to show cause and for the foregoing reasons, the Court will clarify its February 6, 2013 Order to make explicit that RLBS, as well as any other entity created or controlled, directly or indirectly, by Rodberg, is enjoined from transporting passengers for hire between points within the Metropolitan District unless and until properly authorized by the WMATC.
In its May 25, 2012 first amended complaint, WMATC alleged that Rodberg and RLS were advertising for and performing unauthorized passenger transportation services within WMATC jurisdiction, and sought, inter alia, a permanent injunction "restraining defendants Reliable Limousine Service, LLC, and Paul Rodberg from performing passenger transportation services between points in the Metropolitan District, directly or indirectly, unless and until authorized by WMATC." (First Amd. Compl., May 25, 2012 [Dkt. No. 6] at 10 (emphasis added).) On July 9, 2012, the Court denied defendants' motion to dismiss, and on December 19, 2012, it ordered defendants to provide answers to WMATC's interrogatories and otherwise respond to WMATC's document requests by January 2, 2013. After defendants failed to comply, WMATC moved for sanctions. (Pl.'s Mot. for Sanctions, Jan. 18, 2013 [Dkt. No. 19].)
Defendants did not comply, nor did they provide any reason or excuse for their failure to comply, with the Court's December 19, 2012 Order. The Court accordingly granted WMATC's motion and entered default judgment for WMATC on February 6, 2013. (Mem. Op., Feb. 6, 2013 [Dkt. No. 23] at 2; Order, Feb. 6, 2013 [Dkt. No. 24] at 1.) The default judgment, inter alia, permanently enjoined defendants "from transporting passengers for hire between points within the Metropolitan District unless and until properly authorized by the [WMATC]." (Order, Feb. 6, 2013 at 1.) The Court denied defendants' motion for reconsideration (Order, April 28, 2013 [Dkt. No. 28]), and defendants timely appealed. (Notice of Appeal, May 3, 2013 [Dkt. No. 29].)
At that hearing on September 25, 2013, counsel for Rodberg stipulated that RLBS was transporting passengers for hire between points within the Metropolitan District without authorization by the WMATC.
To avoid any argument regarding the meaning of the Court's Order, the Court did not hold Rodberg in contempt based on RLBS's operations at that time,
"`The power of a court of equity to modify a decree of injunctive relief . . . is long-established, broad, and flexible.'" United States v. W. Elec. Co., 46 F.3d 1198, 1202 (D.C.Cir.1995) (quoting N.Y. State Ass'n for Retarded Children, Inc. v. Carey, 706 F.2d 956, 967 (2d Cir.1983)); see also United States v. Swift & Co., 286 U.S. 106, 114, 52 S.Ct. 460, 76 L.Ed. 999 (1932) ("A continuing decree of injunction directed to events to come is subject always to adaptation as events may shape the need."); Thompson v. U.S. Dep't Of Hous. & Urban Dev., 404 F.3d 821, 825 (4th Cir.2005) ("It has long been recognized that courts are vested with the inherent power to modify injunctions they have issued."). "The source of the power to modify is of course the fact that an injunction often requires continuing supervision by the issuing court and always a continuing willingness to apply its powers and processes on behalf of the party who obtained that equitable relief." Sys. Fed'n No. 91 v. Wright, 364 U.S. 642, 647, 81 S.Ct. 368, 5 L.Ed.2d 349 (1961).
Thus, "[a]t the request of the party who sought the equitable relief, a court may tighten the decree in order to accomplish its intended result." W. Elec. Co., 46 F.3d at 1202 (citing United States v. United Shoe Mach. Corp., 391 U.S. 244, 252, 88 S.Ct. 1496, 20 L.Ed.2d 562 (1968) ("[T]he District Court should modify the decree so as to achieve the required result with all appropriate expedition."); see also 1250 24th St. Assocs. v. Brown, 684 F.Supp. 326, 328 (D.D.C.1988); 11A Charles Alan Wright & Arthur Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2961 (2d ed.). The Court's essential inquiry, then, is whether modification or clarification is necessary to achieve the intended result of its February 6, 2013 Order. See 1250 24th St. Assocs., 684 F.Supp. at 328.
As a preliminary matter, the Court must assure itself that it has jurisdiction to modify or clarify the February 6, 2013 Order. See Cobell v. Norton, 240 F.3d 1081, 1094 (D.C.Cir.2001). Rodberg argues that this Court lacks jurisdiction because that Order is currently pending appeal. (Answer at 3-4.) Generally, "filing a notice of appeal . . . confers jurisdiction on the court of appeals and divests the district court of its control over those aspects of the case involved in the appeal." Griggs v. Provident Consumer Disc. Co., 459 U.S. 56, 58, 103 S.Ct. 400, 74 L.Ed.2d 225 (1982). However, it is settled that "after appeal the trial court may, if the purposes of Justice require, preserve the status quo until decision by the appellate court." Newton v. Consol. Gas Co. of New York, 258 U.S. 165, 177, 42 S.Ct. 264, 66 L.Ed. 538 (1922).
Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(c) "codifies th[is] inherent power of a court to preserve the status quo where, in its sound discretion, the court deems the circumstances so justify, and specifically authorizes the district court to modify, if necessary, the terms of the injunction being appealed from." Christian Sci. Reading Room Jointly Maintained v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco, 784 F.2d 1010, 1017 (internal quotation marks omitted), amd., 792 F.2d 124 (9th Cir.1986); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(c) ("While an appeal is pending from an interlocutory appeal or final judgment that grants . . . an injunction, the Court may suspend, modify, restore, or grant an injunction on terms for bond or other terms that secure the opposing party's rights."); DL v. Dist. of Columbia, 845 F.Supp.2d 1, 31 (D.D.C.2011), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 713 F.3d 120 (D.C.Cir.2013). The district court's power to modify an injunction to preserve the status quo necessarily includes the lesser power to clarify the injunction to supervise compliance. See Meinhold v. U.S. Dep't of Def., 34 F.3d 1469, 1480 n. 14 (9th Cir. 1994) ("As the district court issued the amended order to clarify its original injunction and to supervise compliance in the wake of Meinhold's motion for contempt, it did not lack jurisdiction."); cf. United States v. Philip Morris USA Inc., 686 F.3d 839, 844 (D.C.Cir.2012) (distinguishing "modifications" and "clarifications" of injunctions). Accordingly, the Court has jurisdiction to modify or clarify its February 6, 2013 Order on appeal to preserve the status quo or otherwise supervise compliance.
An injunction binds not only the parties to that injunction, but also the
Because a court's authority to modify or clarify an injunction while on appeal is limited to preserving the status quo or otherwise supervising compliance, its power to clarify to make explicit which non-parties are bound by the injunction is necessarily as broad as (though no broader than) the non-party provisions in Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(d)(2)(B)-(C). Cf. Philip Morris USA Inc., 566 F.3d at 1136 (concluding that a "remedial order cannot expand the scope of the injunction beyond that defined by Rule 65(d)"). That is, if an injunction already binds a non-party by operation of Rule 65(d)(2), a court may clarify the injunction to make explicit what is already implicitly so. Accordingly, the question before this Court is whether RLBS is covered by Rule 65(d)(2), such that the Court's February 6, 2013 Order is already binding upon it. If so, to ensure that the Order achieves its intended result, the Court will clarify it to make explicit that RLBS is bound.
RLBS argues that it is not bound by the Court's Order because Rodberg is merely its agent, and "Rule 65(d) by its terms does not allow an injunction against a named agent to bar an unnamed principal from actions.'" (Answer at 7 (quoting RDK Corp. v. Larsen Bakery, Inc., 2006 WL 2168797, *12 (E.D. Wis. July 31, 2006)).) While this statement of law is correct, see Doctor's Assocs., Inc. v. Reinert & Duree, P.C., 191 F.3d 297, 304 n.5 (2d Cir.1999), it does not help RLBS, since Rodberg is the sole owner and president of the company. (9/25/13 Hr'g Tr. at 34, 40.) In this capacity, Rodberg is not RLBS's agent.
Of course, RLBS, even though owned by Rodberg, is not automatically bound by an injunction as to Rodberg. See J.J. McCaskill Co. v. United States, 216 U.S. 504, 514, 30 S.Ct. 386, 54 L.Ed. 590 (1910) ("Undoubtedly a corporation is, in law, a person or entity entirely distinct from its stockholders and officers."). Instead, RLBS is bound only if in "privity" with, subject to control by, or otherwise in active concert or participation with, Rodberg. See Philip Morris USA Inc., 566 F.3d at 1136; see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(d)(2). A corporation is "in privity" with its sole owner "to the extent it is `so identified in interest with [the owner] that [it] represents precisely the same legal right in respect to the subject matter involved' in the injunction." See Philip Morris USA Inc., 566 F.3d at 1136 (quoting Jefferson Sch. of Soc. Sci. v. Subversive Activities Control Bd., 331 F.2d 76, 83 (D.C.Cir. 1963)) (defining the test for privity between parent and subsidiary corporations).
Based on the evidence presented at the show cause hearings, the Court concludes that Rodberg and RLBS are "in privity" under Phillip Morris. The Court enjoined Rodberg and another wholly-owned company (RLS) from operating for-hire passenger transportation services within the Metropolitan District without WMATC authorization. By that time, Rodberg had terminated all passenger transportation services carried out by RLS
Finally, RLBS argues that clarifying the February 6, 2013 Order to specifically enjoin it is tantamount to the post judgment addition of a third-party to a suit, and thus would violate its due process
Microsystems Software, Inc. v. Scandinavia Online AB, 226 F.3d 35, 43 (1st Cir. 2000) (citations omitted). Because RLBS had an ample opportunity to dispute whether it is "in privity" with Rodberg, it cannot complain that its due process rights have been violated. See id.; In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 795 F.2d 226, 234 (1st Cir.1986) ("There is general agreement that due process requires that a potential contemnor be given notice and a hearing regardless of whether the contempt is civil or criminal in nature."); cf. Marshak v. Treadwell, 595 F.3d 478, 491-92 (3d Cir. 2009) (reversing finding of civil contempt where contemnor appeared only as a non-party witness and plaintiff never moved for a finding of contempt against contemnor).
Given the prior proceeding and the clarifications now in effect,
For the foregoing reasons, the Court herby clarifies its February 6, 2013 Order to make explicit that RLBS, as well as any other entity created or controlled, directly or indirectly, by Mr. Rodberg, is enjoined from transporting passengers for hire between points within the Metropolitan District unless and until properly authorized by the WMATC. An Order reflecting this Memorandum Opinion will be issued on this Day.
The Court concludes that Rule 60(b)(5) does not apply to this situation. In Pigford, the party benefitting from the consent decree sought relief from the portion of that consent decree that included filing deadlines and did so specifically under the auspices of Rule 60(b)(5). See Pigford, 292 F.3d at 925. Because Rule 60(b) by its terms defines when a court "may relieve a party" from a final judgment or order, and the Pigford plaintiffs specifically asked for relief under Rule 60(b)(5), the strictures of Rule 60 applied. However, in this case—as the defendants note (see Answer at 4 n.2)—WMATC does not seek relief from the Court's Order, but instead seeks modification or clarification of the Order to ensure that it achieves its intended results. Accordingly, the long-settled United Shoe standard—with its focus on the "required result" and its basis in the inherent power of a court to modify its own decree—applies. See Holland v. New Jersey Dep't of Corr., 246 F.3d 267, 288 n. 16 (3d Cir.2001) (explaining that "[t]he Supreme Court has set a more rigorous standard for defendants seeking modification because defendants usually seek modification `not to achieve the purposes of the provisions of the decree, but to escape their impact.'" (quoting United Shoe Mach. Corp., 391 U.S. at 249, 88 S.Ct. 1496)).