Florida Public Service Commission v. Triple A Enterprises, Inc.

Triple A Enterprises, Inc. (Triple A) (plaintiff) operated a delivery service in Martin County, Florida. By letter, the Florida Public Service Commission (commission) (defendant) notified Triple A that (1) under the Florida Statutes, Triple A’s operations required an official authorization from the commission; and (2) because Triple A did not have an authorization, in five days, the commission would file for a permanent injunction barring Triple A’s ongoing operations unless Triple A voluntarily ceased operations. The commission did not follow through on its threat to seek an injunction. Twenty-six days later, Triple A sued the commission in Martin County, arguing that the statute requiring Triple A to seek authorization from the commission to operate its business (the authorization statute) was unconstitutional. Because the commission was headquartered in Leon County, the commission moved to transfer Triple A’s action to Leon County pursuant to the home-venue privilege, also called the common-law venue privilege, under which state agencies could only be sued in the county in which the agency was headquartered. Triple A challenged, arguing that, under the sword-wielder exception to the home-venue privilege, a private individual could seek venue in the county in which the state was actively and imminently threatening to invade the individual’s constitutional rights. The trial court denied the commission’s motion to transfer, holding that the home-venue privilege was unconstitutional. The commission appealed.