Schaerr | Jaffe Secures Decisive Victory for West Jordan City in Utah Court of Appeals Towing Dispute

Today the Utah Court of Appeals handed Schaerr | Jaffe client West Jordan City a complete appellate victory in Mountain West Towing, et al. v. West Jordan City, et al., reversing a nearly $1.3 million jury verdict and directing dismissal of all the plaintiffs’ claims.

The case arose after West Jordan removed a group of tow companies from its tow rotation and shut down their tow lot. It did so after it realized that the lot on which the tow companies were operating lacked a valid conditional use permit and was inside a drinking water protection zone without a nonpermeable surface. This created a risk that chemicals from wrecked vehicles would contaminate the city’s drinking water.

Reversing the trial court, the Utah Court of Appeals held that the individual towing-company owners lacked standing to recover derivative emotional-distress damages flowing from alleged harm to the corporate entities. It also held that the companies possessed no protected property interest in continued inclusion on the City’s discretionary tow rotation. And it held that the plaintiffs had not shown an equal-protection violation since there was no other similarly situated comparator on the rotation—located, like the plaintiffs’ property, in a watershed overlay protection zone immediately adjacent to a drinking-water well.

The decision not only vacates the verdict but also affirms the City’s authority to enforce its towing and land-use regulations without constitutional liability. The opinion can be read here.

Schaerr | Jaffe attorneys Joshua J. Prince, James C. Phillips, and H. Christopher Bartolomucci represented West Jordan City. Senior paralegal Kristina Robinson also offered invaluable help.