Eva Angelica Lucke v. Andrew Solsvig
Opinion
*1086
Appellant, Eva Lucke, owns a building located on property leased from the Minot International Airport in Minot, North Dakota. She filed suit against Appellees, the City of Minot and Minot International Airport Director Andrew Solsvig, in his individual and official capacities, alleging racial discrimination in violation of
I.
Ms. Lucke, a Hispanic woman, purchased a building on airport property in 1983 and opened Minot Aviation, an aviation-themed hobby shop, in 1985. She originally ran a crop-spraying business and offered flight lessons out of the remainder of the building, but discontinued such operations sometime prior to 2001. Ms. Lucke now leases the majority of her building to her ex-husband, Stewart Lucke, to construct experimental aircraft.
Ms. Lucke's most recent written lease with the City of Minot ran from March 2003 until September 2013. In 2006, the City commenced an unlawful detainer action against her, which was dismissed. When her lease ended, she held over as a month-to-month tenant until December 2015, when the City offered her the lease at issue here. The new lease offered Ms. Lucke an 18-month initial term, renewable on a year-to-year basis with mutual consent, at a rate of $0.30 per square foot per annum. Fred Anderson, a Caucasian man who owns an inactive crop-spraying business located on airport property, was offered a lease with identical terms.
After requesting and receiving copies of new leases offered to other tenants around the same time, Ms. Lucke determined her offered lease terms compared unfavorably to those presented to another tenant, PS Properties, LLP. PS Properties was offered a new lease with an initial term of 20 months, an option to renew for 20 years with mutual consent, and an initial rent rate of $0.30 per square foot per year, to be adjusted after the first five years. When Ms. Lucke asked Director Solsvig why she was offered different lease terms, Director Solsvig cited the airport's need for flexibility as it redeveloped, as well as concerns about the physical state of Ms. Lucke's building and whether her hobby shop qualified as an aeronautical use under FAA regulations.
Considering the lease terms offered to her inferior to those offered to PS Properties due to the differences in the leases' initial durations and renewal options, Ms. Lucke filed suit. She alleged that Appellees presented her with these unfavorable lease terms because of her race. Appellees moved for summary judgment. The district court granted Appellees' motion, finding that Ms. Lucke had not presented sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case and that, even if she had, Appellees presented legitimate, nondiscriminatory *1087 reasons for the differing lease terms and Ms. Lucke could not establish those reasons were merely pretextual. Ms. Lucke then appealed to this Court.
II.
Ms. Lucke argues on appeal that the district court erred in granting Appellees' motion for summary judgment when it concluded that she failed to meet her burden of establishing an inference of unlawful discrimination. "We review de novo a grant of summary judgment, considering the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party."
Meuir v. Greene Cnty. Jail Emps.
,
A plaintiff may prove unlawful racial discrimination through either direct or circumstantial evidence.
Young v. Builders Steel Co.
,
A person is similarly situated to the plaintiff if he or she possesses all the relevant characteristics the plaintiff possesses except for the characteristic about which the plaintiff alleges discrimination.
See
Barstad v. Murray Cnty.
,
If a plaintiff succeeds in establishing her prima facie case, the defendant must then show a "legitimate, non-discriminatory reason" for the challenged conduct.
Young
,
The plaintiff may show pretext either through discrediting the proffered reasons or through showing "that a discriminatory reason more likely motivated the [defendant] ...."
White v. McDonnell Douglas Corp.
,
While
McDonnell Douglas
itself dealt with racial discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
see
The district court found that Ms. Lucke failed to make out a prima facie case of discrimination because she did not identify a similarly-situated individual of another race who received more favorable treatment. Ms. Lucke argues that PS Properties is similarly situated because she, like PS Properties, operates out of a large permanent building with a concrete foundation. However, Appellees counter that PS Properties holds ten airport leases and runs an entirely different form of business than Ms. Lucke runs. They point to Fred Anderson, a male Caucasian, as a similarly-situated individual because, like Ms. Lucke, Anderson owns an inactive crop-spraying business and uses his hangar for aircraft storage. Because Anderson received new lease terms identical to those offered Ms. Lucke, Appellees contend Ms. Lucke cannot show her new lease terms constitute intentional discrimination against her because of her race.
See
Henry v. Hobbs
,
*1089
However, even assuming Ms. Lucke successfully states a prima facie case, she cannot survive summary judgment because she fails to rebut the nondiscriminatory reasons Appellees offered for their conduct. Appellees presented the district court with three legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for the differing lease terms: (1) the airport's need for flexibility in its redevelopment efforts; (2) concern over the physical state of Ms. Lucke's building, and (3) concern over whether a hobby shop is an FAA-approved aeronautical use. Ms. Lucke does not dispute on appeal that these reasons are both legitimate and nondiscriminatory. Despite this fact, she does not present evidence showing that an impermissible, discriminatory reason more likely motivated Appellees.
See
White
,
The district court's grant of summary judgment is affirmed.
The Honorable Daniel L. Hovland, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of North Dakota.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Eva Angelica LUCKE, Plaintiff - Appellant v. Andrew SOLSVIG, Individually and in His Capacity as Director, Minot International Airport ; City of Minot, a North Dakota Municipal Corporation, Defendants - Appellees
- Cited By
- 38 cases
- Status
- Published