Braunstein v. Arizona Department of Transportation

Plaintiff Paul Braunstein seeks damages based on Arizona’s use of an affirmative action program in its award of a 2005 transportation engineering contract. We affirm the district court’s holding that Braunstein lacks Article III standing.

I. Background

Braunstein owns and operates Base-Plans, a small engineering and land surveying firm in Arizona that previously performed work for the Arizona Department of Transportation (“the Department”). The Department is a state agency responsible for the planning, design, repair, and construction of roads in Arizona. Beginning in 2003, Braunstein filed three lawsuits against the Department and its employees challenging their refusal to award him additional work. He filed the first two suits in state court alleging, inter alia, breach of contract, conspiracy, and antitrust violations. In 2006, Braunstein filed the present lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the Department’s race- and gender-conscious affirmative action program violated his right to equal protection.

In 1995, the Department hired the engineering firm DMJM Harris, Inc. (“DMJM”), as its prime contractor for the Maricopa County regional freeway system. Initially,…