----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RECENT FIRST AMENDMENT CASES
Rivera v. Housing Authority of the City of El Paso No. 04-50363)(5th Cir. July 18, 2005)(First Amendment, public fora, designated, limited, forum analysis, trespass, leafleting, prior restraint, prior approval, narrowly tailored, viewpoint discrimination, viewpoint neutrality, state interest, balancing)
Reversed by the 5th Cir. sitting en banc October 5, 2006 Comm. Workers of America v. Ector County, 392. F.3d 733 (5th Cir 2004)(First Amendment union speech in the work place, public employer, union drive, "Union Yes" buttons, dress code)
Justice for All v. Falkner (Univ. of Texas), 410 F.3d 760 (5th Cir. 2005)(University's prohibition of anonymous distribution of leaflets on campus found unconstitutional under the First Amendment.)
Pro-Life Cougars v. Univ. of Houston, 259 F.Supp. 2d 575 (S. D. Tex. 2003)(University's restrictions on on-campus expressive activity found unconstitutional under the First Amendment).
Chiu v. Plano Indep. School Dist., 260 F.3d 330 (5th Cir. 2001)(FIrst Amendment, students, parents, public schools, fliers, leaflets, prior restraint, censorship, limited, designated public forum)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TEXAS FACULTY EMPLOYMENT LAW CASES
Slade v. Texas Southern University Board of Regents, No. 01-06-00990-CV (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] , Aug. 30, 2007) (Opinion by Justice Sam Nuchia)(breach of contract claim against state university barred by sovereign immunity, waiver-by-conduct theory rejected); but see Tex. S. Univ. v. State Street Bank and Trust Co. (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 11, 2007)(opinion on rehearing by Justice Hanks)(holding that waiver by conduct theory was valid basis for denial of TSU's plea to the jurisdiction, but rejecting inverse condemnation claim against the University).
University of Houston v. Barth, 178 S.W.3d 157. (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] June 30, 2005, no pet.)(Professor's whistle blower suit may proceed in the trial court. Dismissal for lack of jurisdiction not proper. Trial court's denial of University's plea to the jurisdiction affirmed on appeal.)
Moore v. Univ. of Houston-Clear Lake, 165 S.W.3d 97 (Tex.App.- Houston [14th Dist.] 2005, no pet.)(Trial court's dismissal of whistle blower suit reversed on appeal. Limitations defense cannot be asserted in a plea to the jurisdiction.)
Freedman v. Univ. of Houston, 110 S.W.3d 504 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist] 2003, no pet.)(University is immune to professor's breach of contract suit)
Texas A&M Univ.-Kingsville v. Lawson,127 S.W.3d 866 (Tex.App. - Austin 2004, pet. denied)(University is not immune to second suit after it failed to abide by settlement agreement in former professor's whistle blower suit.)
Texas A&M v. Luxemburg, 93 S.W.3d 419 (Tex.App-Houston [14th Dist.] 2002, pet. denied)(Nontenured faculty member fired in violation of his constitutional rights wins reinstatement in state court after failing in federal court.)
SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY CASES INVOLVING UNIVERSITIES
Texas Southern University v. Strength, Speed & Agility Program, Inc., (Tex.App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 2005) Before Nuchia, Jennings, and Higley. Opinion by Sam Nuchia 2005. In suit for breach of oral contract against state university, trial court should have granted University's plea to the jurisdiction because plaintiff failed to establish waiver of sovereign immunity; plaintiff nonetheless entitled to an opportunity to amend upon remand under Harris County v. Sykes, 136 S.W.3d 635, 639 (Tex. 2004) ("A trial court must grant a plea to the jurisdiction, after providing an appropriate opportunity to amend, when the pleadings do not state a cause of action upon which the trial court has jurisdiction.”)
De Miño v. Sheridan, 176 S.W.3d 359 (Tex.App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 2004, no pet.)(Provost held immune from suit in his official capacity)
Texas A&M Univ. Sys. v. Koseoglu, 167 S.W.3d 374 (Tex.App.--Waco 2005, pet. granted May 26, 2006) (university immune to breach of contract suit, but Plaintiff entitled to re- plead to assert other claims; university official not entitled to interlocutory appeal); overruled in part by Texas Supreme Court Texas A&M Univ. vs. Koseoglu (Tex. 2007)(official entitled to interlocutory appeal; entitled to immunity in his official capacity; judgment rendered for the defendants; no opportunity to replead required here because claim barred by immunity; amending of pleadings would be futile because jurisdictional defect could not be cured)
Goerke v. Univ. of Houston, 110 S.W.3d 504 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist] 2003, no pet.)(University held immune to former administrator's breach of contract suit.)
Baylor University v. Vernon Johnson, 188 S.W.3d 296 (Tex.App.-Waco 2006, pet. denied 10/27/2006) (defamation, tortious interference, negligence misrepresentation claims stemming from University's information provided on former employee to subsequent employer)
