Opinion ID: 853168
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The “Per Se” Injunction Standard

Text: The grant or denial of a preliminary injunction rests within the sound discretion of the trial court, and our review is limited to whether there was a clear abuse of that discretion. Harvest Ins. Agency, Inc. v. Inter-Ocean Ins. Co., 492 N.E.2d 686, 688 (Ind. 1986). To obtain a preliminary injunction, the moving party has the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence the following: 1) [movant’s] remedies at law were inadequate, thus causing irreparable harm pending resolution of the substantive action; 2) it had at least a reasonable likelihood of success at trial by establishing a prima facie case; 3) its threatened injury outweighed the potential harm to appellant resulting from the granting of an injunction; and 4) the public interest would not be disserved. Id. (citations omitted); T.H. Landfill Co., Inc. v. Miami County Solid Waste Dist., 628 N.E.2d 1237, 1238 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994). If the movant fails to prove any of these requirements, the trial court’s grant of an injunction is an abuse of discretion. Boatwright v. Celebration Fireworks, Inc., 677 N.E.2d 1094, 1096 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997). The trial court held that FSSA violated several procedural requirements in adopting the permanent and emergency rules. Having found statutory violations that demonstrated a likelihood of success, the court relied on a “per se” rule under which the other elements of the standard injunction analysis were presumed. This Court has indicated that a relaxed standard may sometimes be applied for clear, uncontested unlawful conduct. Schrenker v. Clifford, 270 Ind. 525, 529, 387 N.E.2d 59, 61 (1979). But because parties are relieved of several showings usually necessary to obtain injunctive relief, this relaxed standard “is only proper when it is clear that [a] statute has been violated.” Union Township Sch. Corp. v. State ex rel. Joyce, 706 N.E.2d 183, 192 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998). In prior Indiana decisions employing the relaxed standard, the “per se” rule has been used to enjoin activity that is clearly unlawful and against the public interest, such as the practice of medicine without a license.[3] The “per se” rule has never been used to permit a private party to enjoin State action based on an alleged procedural deficiency in promulgating rules. A private assertion of public interest will rarely justify enjoining State conduct when it is based only on a procedural challenge and a prima facie case. Here, there is no question that FSSA has legal authority to revise Medicaid dispensing fees and reimbursement rates. The question is whether it went about the task appropriately. The rules at issue may or may not have been properly promulgated (as we discuss further below), but the action itself is one the statute allows. Absolving Walgreens from proving irreparable injury and a balance of harm in its favor was error. We therefore proceed to review the standard proofs necessary for obtaining injunctive relief.