O'Hare Truck Service, Inc. v. City of Northlake

Since 1965, O’Hare Truck Service, Inc. (O’Hare) (plaintiff) had been an authorized towing-service provider for the City of Northlake, Illinois (the city) (defendant). The city coordinated towing services through the police department and kept a rotation list of towing companies that could provide services. The city’s former mayor and O’Hare had an understanding that O’Hare would remain on the city’s rotation list as long as O’Hare continued to provide good service. When the city’s new mayor, Reid Paxson (defendant), was elected in 1989, Paxson told O’Hare’s owner, John Gratzianna (plaintiff), that Paxson was pleased with O’Hare and would keep O’Hare on the rotation list. In 1993, when Paxson was running for reelection, Paxson’s campaign asked Gratzianna to make a campaign contribution. Gratzianna refused and instead displayed Paxson’s opponent’s campaign poster at O’Hare. A short time later, the city removed O’Hare from the rotation list of towing-service providers. O’Hare and Gratzianna sued the city and Paxson in federal district court in Illinois, asserting violations of the First Amendment. O’Hare and Gratzianna contended that O’Hare had been removed from the rotation list in retaliation for Gratzianna’s support of Paxson’s political opponent. The district court dismissed the complaint, finding that although the United States Supreme Court had previously held that government officials generally may not discharge public employees for refusing to support a political party or candidate, the same protections did not extend to independent contractors like O’Hare. The appellate court affirmed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.