Constitutional Challenge, Litigation, Official/Qualified Immunity, Procedure, Sec. 1983

U.S. Supreme Court holds officer entitled to qualified immunity for shooting suspect after arriving late to an altercation with other officers

RAY WHITE, ET AL. v. DANIEL T. PAULY, No.16-67 (U.S. January 9, 2017)  This is an excessive force, police shooting case where the United States Supreme Court granted an officer’s qualified immunity defense. Through a serious of events, three officers became involved
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Agency, Declaratory Judgments, Litigation, Procedure

Court of Appeals holds it does not have interlocutory jurisdiction over reinstatement order, even though immunity is involved

West Travis County Public Utility Agency, on behalf of itself and its Directors, Larry Fox, Michael Murphy, Ray Whisenant, Bill Goodwin, and Scott Roberts, in their Official Capacities v. CCNG Development Co., L.P., No.03-16-00521-CV (Tex. App— Austin, January 4, 2017) This opinion
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Sovereign Immunity, TTCA

Death from slip on kayak cut in dam not actionable under TTCA, but failure to maintain scour hole is says Fort Worth Court of Appeals

Tarrant Regional Water District v. Richard Johnson and Sharkara Johnson, 02-16-00043-CV (Tex. App— Fort Worth, December 30, 2016) This is an interlocutory appeal in a Texas Tort Claims Act (“TTCA”) case where the Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed-in-part and reversed-in-part the
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Sovereign Immunity, TTCA

“Wet floor” warning sign sufficient as a matter of law to warn of dried but slippery wax on floor under TTCA says Beaumont Court of Appeals

 Montgomery County v. David Lanoue, 09-16-00195-CV (Tex. App— Beaumont, December 29,2016) This is a Texas Tort Claims Act (“TTCA”) slip-and-fall case where the Beaumont Court of Appeals reversed the denial of the County’s plea to the jurisdiction and dismissed the case. When
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Discrimination, Employment Law, Sovereign Immunity

Since manager’s position was reorganized into director position, former manager was not “replaced” with someone outside of her protected class

DISD reorganized the CAFD, renamed it the Finance and Accounting Support for Campuses Department (the FASCD), and decided the new department should be led by a Director, a position one managerial level higher than Manager. The DISD hired Donna Zemanek, an Anglo
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Contracts, Sovereign Immunity

Texas Supreme Court holds contractor who rebuilt homes destroyed in hurricane for property owners was also providing “services” to Planning Commission, so Chapter 271 waiver of immunity applies.

BYRDSON SERVICES, LLC, D/B/A EXCELLO CONSTRUCTION, LLC v. SOUTH EAST TEXAS REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION, No. 15-0158 (Tex. December 23, 2016) After South East Texas Regional Planning Commission (“Planning Commission” or “Commission”) received federal hurricane relief funding it contracted with Byrdson Services to
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