Since City’s plea to the jurisdiction only challenged non-jurisdictional facts, plea was property denied in breach of contract suit

City of Del Rio v. Henry Arredondo, 04-20-00409-CV, (Tex. App – San Antonio, August 4, 2021)

This is a breach of contract suit where the Fourth Court of Appeals held that because the City’s plea only challenged non-jurisdictional facts, the plea was properly denied.

City hired Arredondo as its City Manager. The parties entered into an Employment Agreement, which provided Arredondo served “at the pleasure of the City Council.” The City Council later voted to terminate the Employment Agreement. Arredondo then sued the City, alleging the City Council did not obtain a majority vote to terminate his employment, which constituted a breach of contract claim. He also pled an alternative breach of employment contract claim. The City filed a plea to the jurisdiction, which was denied.

Section 271.152 of the Texas Local Government Code waives governmental immunity for the adjudication of certain breach of contract claims. The City asserts the contract did not alter the employment-at-will doctrine and the City complied with the contract. The crux of this appeal is whether the facts asserted by the City are “jurisdictional facts.”  Not all facts relating to the merits are necessarily jurisdictional facts. The at-will nature and city’s compliance with the contract, in this situation, were not jurisdictional facts, so the plea was properly denied.

Panel consists of Chief Justice Martinez, and Justices Chapa and Valenzuela. Affirmed. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Chapa can be read here. Docket page with attorney information found here.

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