Curbside Anguish

Deer Park pays Center client $9,000 to settle lawsuit over garbage bill collection ordinance.

The City of Deer Park has agreed to pay Clara Wilson $9,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought on Wilson’s behalf by the Center for Justice. Wilson, a single mother of six children, brought the suit after relatively minor disagreements over her garbage collection bills spiraled into criminal proceedings against her by the city. The charges against Wilson grew out of conflicts she was having with a private company which, until recently, has had the contract with Deer Park to collect residential garbage.

The disputes eventually led to Wilson having her garbage service stopped, and this led to her being cited by the City for failing to have garbage service. The citations were levied under a controversial Deer Park ordinance that Wilson and the Center went to federal court to contest.

“Deer Park contracted out its garbage service,” explains CFJ attorney Jeffry Finer. “And like any other outfit, the contractor bills for its services. But if you were behind on a bill, or in Clara’s case, if you contested a bill, they simply turned you over to the city’s code enforcement office which would refer the customer for prosecution. Deer Park was using a criminal law for debt collection and there is a longstanding precedent under state law that you can’t use criminal law for debt owed on a contract.”

With her federal lawsuit, Wilson not only contested the law, but sought damages for the stress and anguish caused by the criminal counts filed against her as a result of the disputed billings. After Wilson filed notice of her intent to bring the lawsuit, the City of Deer Park changed its ordinance so that people late on their bills, or who have disputes over their garbage collection, will no longer be facing criminal referral.

“The most important thing for me was to get the law changed, and that happened because of this suit,” Ms. Wilson says. “That my cause of action was based on principles and protecting people’s rights and that it resulted in a monetary award to me was all really secondary. I’m grateful that the settlement will allow me to focus more on my family, and I’m very satisfied that the lawsuit accomplished what I intended, which was to change the law.”

“For Clara Wilson,” says Finer, “the principle was everything. For the Center, bringing this action was in strong alignment with our commitment to fight against misuse of governmental authority and to help people who feel bullied.”