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Ozinga Chicago Ready Mix Concrete, Inc. v. City of Chicago
Citations: 209 F. Supp. 2d 917; 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10962; 2002 WL 1359412Docket: 96 C 6859
Court: District Court, N.D. Illinois; June 19, 2002; Federal District Court
Ozinga Chicago Ready Mix Concrete, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago challenging the constitutionality of the City’s Minority/Women Business Enterprise Procurement Program (MBE/WBE Program), which reserves contracts in the South section of the city for MBE/WBE suppliers, thereby excluding Ozinga despite its long-standing history of providing ready-mix concrete to the city. The case was related to ongoing litigation by the Builders Association of Greater Chicago (BAGC), which has also been contesting the MBE/WBE Program. While Ozinga initially drifted in the wake of the BAGC case, it sought a preliminary injunction to prevent its exclusion from the South section, invoking a sliding scale analysis for success likelihood based on prior case law. The court noted that set-aside programs have historically faced challenges in court, referencing relevant Supreme Court and Seventh Circuit cases. Despite recognizing Ozinga’s strong likelihood of success on the merits, the court expressed reluctance to grant preliminary relief due to ongoing discovery issues and the marginal nature of the irreparable harm claimed by Ozinga. The court assessed that while Ozinga could incur financial losses from exclusion, these losses were quantifiable and did not threaten the company’s solvency. As a result, the court determined that the BAGC case should proceed without issuing a preliminary injunction for Ozinga, emphasizing judicial caution in the matter.