Case law

Jefferson County v. Stines

523 S.W.3d 691 · Court of Appeals of Texas · Jun 22, 2017

Consequently, governmental immunity will bar an otherwise proper DJA claim that has the effect of establishing a right to relief against a governmental entity for which the Legislature has not waived immunity. Id. . . … It is well-established, however, that certain types of claims brought under the DJA do not implicate governmental immunity.

Jacob Schauer v. Charles Terrell Morgan

Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston) · Jun 16, 2005

The usual limits of the qualified immunity accorded governmental employees does not apply. … the employee in his official capacity—not as barring liability claims made against him in his individual capacity, unless he establishes a qualified official immunity defense.

Reno v. Metropolitan Transit Authority

977 F. Supp. 812 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Aug 12, 1997

In analyzing a qualified immunity claim, the Court must first determine whether plaintiff has “ ‘allege[d] the violation of a clearly established constitutional right’ under currently applicable constitutional standards.” … Because Reno has not alleged the violation of a clearly established right, Moorer and Raymond are entitled to assert qualified immunity as a defense to Reno’s § 1983 claim. X.

Garza v. Morales

923 S.W.2d 800 · Texas Court of Appeals, 13th District · May 16, 1996

Garza and the City of Weslaco answered and raised the defenses of sovereign immunity, qualified immunity, and judicial immunity. … The setting of bail is clearly a judicial function.

Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P. v. Emmett

58 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 567 · Texas Supreme Court · Mar 20, 2015

to governmental immunity. … The undisputed facts establish that Marcotte acted with authority of law and that the ultra vires exception is inapplicable as to him.

Rosalinda E. Romero v. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp.

Texas Court of Appeals, 15th District · Aug 27, 2026

Hart, 3  Section 122.001(a) does not clearly and unambiguously waive the Fund’s immunity. … But deleting the word “private” cannot substitute for language clearly waiving immunity, for the reasons we’ve discussed.

Garza v. United States

881 F. Supp. 1099 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Jan 19, 1995

The Court must evaluate the objective reasonableness of the Defendants’ actions assessed in the light of “clearly established” legal rules existing at the time. Johnston v. … Moreover, for purposes of the qualified immunity defense, the Court must consider the status of the law in March 1992, when this incident occurred.

Rodriguez v. Rutter

498 F. Supp. 2d 932 · District Court, W.D. Texas · Jul 19, 2007

Because Plaintiff has not established that Defendants violated his First Amendment rights, he has failed to demonstrate that qualified immunity does not apply. … Because Plaintiff has not established that Defendants violated his Fourteenth Amendment rights, Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that qualified immunity does not apply.

Mission Consolidated Independent School District v. Garcia

314 S.W.3d 548 · Texas Court of Appeals, 13th District · May 27, 2010

Age Discrimination To establish a prima facie case of age discrimination, a plaintiff must show: *556 (1) that she was discharged; (2) that she was qualified for the position; (3) that she was in the protected class at the … Notwithstanding the lack of briefing or argument, the supreme court considered the waiver issue 9 and concluded that the “TCHRA clearly and unambiguously waives immunity.” Garcia, 253 S.W.3d at 660 .

Whitesell v. Newsome Ex Rel. Doe

138 S.W.3d 393 · Texas Court of Appeals, 14th District (Houston) · Jun 17, 2004

Whitesell further testified that he provided Durham with a list of employees who were qualified to drive buses for BISD, including the fact that they had the requisite criminal record check, and Johnson was on that list. … In this case, Whitesell does not controvert that he violated section 22.084(b) of the Education Code, a provision which clearly delineates the duties of a professional employee of a school with respect to obtaining approval

Seals v. City of Dallas

249 S.W.3d 750 · Texas Court of Appeals, 5th District (Dallas) · Mar 26, 2008

In an employment-at-will situation, written policies and personnel procedure manuals are not considered contractual absent express language clearly indicating contractual intent. See Williams v. First Tenn. … Appellants contend Muncy establishes their property interest that was taken when appellee allegedly violated its written rules and procedures.

Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services v. Claudia Gomez

Texas Court of Appeals, 8th District (El Paso) · Aug 30, 2024

Gomez responded, arguing that there was sufficient jurisdictional evidence to support her claims, thereby establishing waiver of DADS’s immunity. … Age and gender discrimination A prima facie case of age or sex discrimination is established by producing evidence that the plaintiff (1) is a member of the protected class; (2) was qualified for the position;

Russell v. City of Seymour

836 S.W.2d 283 · Court of Appeals of Texas · Jul 23, 1992

Assuming, without deciding, that Section 101.021(1)(A) waives immunity in all tort cases for the “non-use” of an available motor vehicle, the evidence conclusively establishes that no official request was made to Seymour … Encouraging the legislature to cure this problem in a future session, Greenhill answered his own argument that clearly it was not the legislature’s intent to waive immunity in all tort cases: But if they mean that the Legislature

Brown v. Hensley

515 S.W.3d 442 · Court of Appeals of Texas · Jan 26, 2017

each element of their affirmative defense of immunity under the Texas Charitable Immunity and Liability Act. … To establish their affirmative defense of immunity under the Act, the Board members were required to conclusively prove that each was a volunteer, the Association was a qualified organization as defined by the Act, 4 and

Curtis R. Francis, TDCJ-ID 564414 v. TDCJ-CID

Texas Court of Appeals, 2nd District (Fort Worth) · Aug 31, 2007

and for Ford and Horton on their respective affirmative defenses of qualified immunity. … First, she asserted the affirmative defense of qualified immunity.

Annab v. Harris County

524 S.W.3d 793 · Court of Appeals of Texas · Mar 14, 2017

An-nab’s pleadings state that Caplan shot and *806 severely injured her, clearly an intentional tort. … The court expressly did not decide whether the plaintiffs negligence claims fell.within the waiver of immunity contained in the TTCA or whether they were barred by immunity for other reasons. Id. at 60-61 .

Geneke Antonio Lyons v. Trooper Jason Henderson, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the State of Texas

Texas Court of Appeals, 7th District (Amarillo) · May 19, 2008

By their Plea, the defendants alleged that sovereign immunity barred Lyons’s suit against the State and TDPS and that Henderson was protected by both qualified and official immunity. … Thus, for Lyons to maintain suit against any of the defendants named in his suit, he must state facts in his pleading that establish that the defendants are either outside of the protection of sovereign immunity or that the

State v. Paul Reed Harper

562 S.W.3d 1 · Texas Supreme Court · Jun 29, 2018

[it] would have clearly stated so.” That argument states precisely the opposite of the presumption that we apply when determining whether the legislature has waived sovereign immunity. … Rather, Reata establishes that sovereign immunity never protects the state from certain qualifying counterclaims when the state does assert certain claims for monetary recovery. But it does not establish the inverse.

Bills v. Williams

District Court, N.D. Texas · Jul 3, 2025

unreasonable in the light of that then clearly established law.” … “Unless the plaintiff's allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery.” Mitchell v.

Geneke Antonio Lyons v. Trooper Jason Henderson, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the State of Texas

Texas Court of Appeals, 7th District (Amarillo) · May 19, 2008

By their Plea, the defendants alleged that sovereign immunity barred Lyons’s suit against the State and TDPS and that Henderson was protected by both qualified and official immunity. … Thus, for Lyons to maintain suit against any of the defendants named in his suit, he must state facts in his pleading that establish that the defendants are either outside of the protection of sovereign immunity or that