AUSTIN, Texas—Today, Waxahachie small business owner Josh Roman and his company American AF Dumpster Rentals have joined with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a lawsuit challenging the city’s monopoly for construction dumpster rentals. In December 2025, Waxahachie began ordering contractors to stop using dumpsters from Josh’s business to enforce a monopoly it granted to a national waste management company, even though the Texas Constitution explicitly prohibits monopolies.
“I’ve been a business owner all my life and always believed that if you work hard, serve your community and customers well, and earn their trust, you should have the opportunity to compete,” said Josh. “This lawsuit is about standing up for customer choice, fair competition, and the right of a small business to earn an honest living.”
Josh Roman founded American AF Dumpster Rentals, based in Waxahachie, to provide roll-off dumpsters to construction sites across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Builders choose Josh because he is fast, reliable, and local. But, Josh discovered the hard way that renting construction dumpsters in Waxahachie is effectively illegal for him because the city handed an exclusive franchise monopoly to a single national waste company. This means only that company is allowed to rent roll-off construction dumpsters within city limits. In exchange, the city collects a share of the company’s revenue.
To protect its chosen monopolist, the city started going after contractors that used Josh’s dumpsters, threatening $2,000 per day fines and permit delays until they swapped Josh’s dumpsters out for the monopolist’s.
“That’s not regulation, it’s a weapon to fence out entrepreneurs who dare compete,” said IJ Attorney Daniel Woislaw.
The city’s message to Josh is simple: the market is closed, your competitor has the monopoly, and there is nothing you can do about it. But the Texas Constitution says otherwise. It declares that monopolies “shall never be allowed,” guarantees Texans equal rights to compete, and protects the right to earn an honest living. Josh’s customers are happy with his service. And the city, for its part, is not acting on any complaint. It is simply punishing Josh for daring to compete with its chosen monopolist.
“This case isn’t just about Josh and his business,” said IJ Managing Attorney Arif Panju. “It’s about the right of every Texan to start a business and compete without the government picking winners and losers.”
IJ is the nation’s leading defender of economic liberty. In the Texas Supreme Court, IJ secured a landmark victory in Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which held that the Texas Constitution provides meaningful protection for the right to earn an honest living, striking down an overly burdensome licensing scheme aimed at eyebrow threaders. In St. Joseph Abbey v. Castille, IJ won a ruling from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that naked economic protectionism is not a legitimate use of government power, freeing a group of Louisiana monks to sell their simple wooden caskets free from irrational licensing requirements. IJ will continue to protect entrepreneurs from unnecessary and unconstitutional restrictions in this case. The Texas Constitution rightfully banned monopolies. Josh and IJ are asking the courts to enforce that guarantee.