Motheral v. Black
| Decision Date | 06 May 2022 |
| Docket Number | 03-21-00671-CV |
| Parties | Michael Motheral in his Official Capacity as Chair of the University Interscholastic League's State Executive Committee; Johanna Denson in her Official Capacity as Vice Chair of the UIL SEC; Paul Galvan in his Official Capacity as a member of the UIL SEC; and Daryl Wade in his Official Capacity as a member of the UIL SEC, Appellants v. Jennifer Black, individually, and A.B., a minor, by and through his guardian, Jennifer Black, Appellees |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
FROM THE 53RD DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY NO D-1-GN-21-006732, THE HONORABLE MARIA CANTÚ HEXSEL JUDGE PRESIDING
Before Justices Goodwin, Baker, and Triana
Jennifer Black, individually, and A.B., a minor, by and through his guardian Jennifer Black (collectively "Plaintiffs") sued the following individuals in their official capacities as members of one of the University Interscholastic League's State Executive Committees Michael Motheral as Chair, Johanna Denson as Vice Chair, Paul Galvan as a member, and Daryl Wade as a member (collectively, "UIL Defendants"), alleging that the UIL Defendants violated the Plaintiffs' constitutional rights to due course of law, equal protection, and free speech during a hearing regarding A.B.'s eligibility to play high school varsity sports, seeking declaratory relief regarding the validity of one of the UIL's rules, and seeking a temporary injunction allowing A.B. to participate in high school athletic competitions pending resolution of the underlying trial. The UIL Defendants filed a response to the request for a temporary injunction asserting that the requirements for a temporary injunction had not been met and filed a plea to the jurisdiction asserting that the trial court did not have jurisdiction over the Plaintiffs' claims. After a hearing, the trial court issued an order denying the UIL Defendants' plea to the jurisdiction and granting the Plaintiffs' request for a temporary injunction. The UIL Defendants have appealed the trial court's order. We will affirm the portions of the trial court's order granting the temporary injunction and denying the plea to the jurisdiction regarding the Plaintiffs' due-course-of-law claim, reverse the remaining portions of the order denying the plea, and render judgment dismissing for want of jurisdiction the Plaintiffs' equal-protection claim, free-speech claim, and request for declaratory relief regarding the UIL rule.
BACKGROUND[1]
Jennifer Black and Terry Black were married in 2004 and later had two sons: A.B. and B.B. Jennifer alleged that Terry abused her during their marriage, including threatening to kill her. Because of the alleged abuse, Jennifer separated from Terry, and they divorced in 2011. As part of the divorce decree, Jennifer was given the right to determine the residence for the couple's two children within Tarrant County or any contiguous county. Although the couple divorced, Terry continued to follow Jennifer and make efforts to exert control over her life.
After the divorce, Jennifer moved with her two children to Coppell, Texas, where her children attended school and participated in school sports programs. A.B. played on the high school basketball team during his freshman, sophomore, and junior years (2018-2021) under Coach Clint Schnell. In 2018, Jennifer began dating David Peavy, a high school coach in Duncanville, Texas. As the relationship progressed, Peavy moved into Jennifer's Coppell home, where the couple lived together for more than two years. Jennifer and Peavy have co-parented Jennifer's children, and the couple got engaged in April 2021. After Jennifer and Peavy began dating, Terry harassed the couple and threatened violence against them, including threatening to blow up their house.
Before A.B. started his senior year in Coppell, Terry began pressuring him to transfer to a Florida academy to get ready to play basketball in college. However, A.B. did not want to transfer because he did not want to leave his family and friends, and A.B. intended to play basketball in Coppell for his senior year. Terry did not agree with A.B.'s choice and became angry about the situation. In August 2021, while A.B. and his brother were at a basketball tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, Terry shouted at A.B. while he was on the court and later approached A.B. while he was on the bench, grabbed him by the hair, dragged him outside, and punched or pushed A.B.'s face.
Following this incident, Jennifer asked her younger son's coach to cancel B.B.'s scheduled game because she was afraid that Terry might cause another incident, and the coach agreed to cancel the team's scheduled game and offered to help Jennifer. Because Jennifer was frightened by Terry's aggressive behavior toward A.B., she contacted an attorney, seeking help obtaining a restraining order against Terry. Worried that the restraining order might take some time to go into effect, Jennifer also made the decision to move her family from their home in Coppell to another home unknown to Terry, and she asked her children to turn off their location apps on their phones to prevent Terry from discovering the location of their new home. After talking with Peavy, Jennifer decided to move to Duncanville, where Peavy worked and which is in a county contiguous with Tarrant County as the divorce decree required. Once the family moved to Duncanville, Jennifer enrolled her children in the local high school, and A.B. joined the new school's basketball team. When Jennifer informed Coach Schnell about her decision to move away from Coppell, he told her that he supported her decision. Further, Schnell sent A.B. a text message stating that he wished A.B. "all the best" and knew he was "in good hands."
Following Jennifer's decision to move, Terry contacted Coach Schnell and Kit Pehl, who was the athletic director for the Coppell school district. In his discussions with Schnell and Pehl, Terry encouraged them to challenge Jennifer's decision to move her family and provided them with information that he argued showed that A.B. was being transferred for an improper athletic purpose and had been recruited. Pehl was surprised by Terry's decision to become involved in the matter because he thought that Terry would have supported A.B., knowing that Terry's suggested challenge could result in A.B. not being allowed to play basketball during his senior year, and because he had never heard of another parent ever seeking to challenge a school transfer on the ground that the other parent had moved with the child for an athletic purpose.
After talking with Terry, Pehl helped Schnell fill out a Previous Athletic Participation Form ("PAPF"). The University Interscholastic League ("UIL") requires that the PAPF be filled out in circumstances like those present here where a student transfers to a new school and had previously participated in sports. As filled out, the PAPF alleged that there was dissatisfaction or conflict among A.B., his parents, and the athletic supervisors at the school; that A.B. was recruited to attend Duncanville High School or had been subjected to undue influence encouraging him to change schools; and that A.B. was changing schools for athletic purposes. Approximately one month after Director Pehl submitted the PAPF to the UIL, a hearing before a UIL District Executive Committee ("DEC") was scheduled.
Before the DEC hearing, Pehl texted Terry to say that he and Schnell "want[ed] to collaborate with" Terry about how to frame their arguments at the hearing. Over the next two months, Pehl, Schnell, and Terry talked on the phone and met in person multiple times to discuss A.B.'s transfer. Moreover, Terry agreed to testify as a witness against the transfer even though Pehl could not remember any other DEC hearing in which a witness had been called to testify against a student.
At the DEC hearing in September 2021, the Plaintiffs were not represented by counsel. During the hearing, Schnell testified that he believed that A.B. had been recruited to play for Duncanville High School and that A.B. wanted to move to Duncanville to get more exposure to recruiters. Further, Schnell emphasized that Jennifer and Peavy were dating but were not married. Terry testified that A.B. expressed a desire to move to Duncanville months before the move and that Peavy had only lived with Jennifer for a few months. During Peavy's testimony, one of the DEC members asked whether he was married to Jennifer, and Peavy explained that they were engaged and had lived together for more than two years. Similarly, Jennifer testified that she had been in a long-term relationship with Peavy. Further, she related that she decided to move for A.B.'s best interests after there had been "some confrontation between [A.B.] and [Terry] this summer." In his testimony, A.B. stated that he was having an issue with his father right now. At the end of the hearing, the DEC voted unanimously that A.B. moved for athletic purposes, which rendered A.B. ineligible to play varsity sports at Duncanville High School for one year.
After the DEC hearing, Terry showed up at Jennifer's new home uninvited, unannounced, and without having been given her new address. Upon arriving at the house, Terry texted her photos of her new house, said that he was outside, and stated that he was there to pick up his sons even though he had stopped picking up the children more than a year before when A.B. got his driver's license. While Terry was outside, B.B. called Jennifer because he was scared. Jennifer's attorney sent a letter to Terry requesting that he not attend B.B.'s basketball games because of B.B.'s anxiety and that Terry participate in counseling to address the recent conflicts,...
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