Constitutional Challenge, Employment Law, Retaliation, Sec. 1983

Sgt. “rant” on Facebook about Chief was not speaking about matter of public concern, so no First Amendment protection says 5th Circuit.

Graziosi v. City of Greenville Mississippi, No. 13-60900 (5th Cir. January 9, 2015). This is a First Amendment employment retaliation case where the 5th Circuit affirmed the granting of the City’s summary judgment motion. Graziosi was a sergeant of 25 years with
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Contracts, Public Works, Sovereign Immunity

Commission is mere funding conduit and not recipient of “goods or services” under disaster relief contract; warranty and indemnity clause does not alter status

South East Texas Regional Planning Commission v. Byrdson Services, LLC, d/b/a Excello Construction, LLC, 09-14-00198-CV (Tex. App. – Beaumont, January 22, 2015). This is an interlocutory appeal from the denial of a plea to the jurisdiction in which the Beaumont Court of
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Constitutional Challenge, Declaratory Judgments, Land Use, Litigation, Procedure, Sign Regulation, Takings

Changing tri-display billboard to LED billboard is a reconstruction and not merely a change in “electrical wiring or devices” so required a permit

Garrett Operators, Inc. v. City of Houston, 01-13-00767-CV (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.], January 22, 2015) Garrett Operators, Inc. (“Garrett”) filed a declaratory judgment action against the City of Houston (“the City”) regarding the application and interpretation of the City’s Sign
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Discrimination, Employment Law, Litigation, Procedure, Retaliation

Ex-employee must pay attorney’s fees for frivolous discrimination claims; no adverse employment action occurred and law is clear supervisors are not liable

Tammy Anderson v. Houston Community College System, 01-14-00062-CV (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.], January 13, 2015) This is a discrimination/retaliation case under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (“TCHRA”) where the court of appeals affirmed the granting of MSJs for
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Constitutional Challenge, Litigation, Official/Qualified Immunity, Procedure, Sec. 1983, Sovereign Immunity, TTCA

Texas Supreme Court says Tort Claims Act dismissal does not affect amended pleadings which add sec. 1983 claims

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGING AND DISABILITY SERVICES V. WATSON, et al. 12-0830 (Tex. January 9, 2015) This is a Texas Tort Claims Act case where the Texas Supreme Court holds that while individual employees are entitled to dismissal for tort claims, they
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Civil Service/Collective Bargaining, Declaratory Judgments, Employment Law, Litigation, Mandamus, Procedure, Sovereign Immunity, Ultra Vires

Civil Service Director ordered to submit appeal to independent hearing examiner, but City immune from damages

Richard Stubbs v. The City of Weslaco, et al., 13-14-00054-CV (Tex. App. —  Corpus Christi, January 8, 2015). This is an appeal from the dismissal of a mandamus action where the 13th Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal and ordered the trial
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Civil Service/Collective Bargaining, Discrimination, Employment Law, Sovereign Immunity

Sergeant’s offered comparators we not “nearly identical” to support discrimination claim says 1st Court of Appeals

  Harris County, Texas v. Kenneth Bankhead, 01-13-01005-CV (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.], December 30, 2014) This is an interlocutory appeal from the denial of a plea to the jurisdiction in a race discrimination employment case. The First District Court of
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