Fawcett v. Rogers

492 S.W.3d 18, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3175, 2016 WL 1236991
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 29, 2016
DocketNO. 01-15-00121-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 492 S.W.3d 18 (Fawcett v. Rogers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fawcett v. Rogers, 492 S.W.3d 18, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3175, 2016 WL 1236991 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

OPINION ON REHEARING

Laura Carter Higley, Justice •

Appellee, Robert J. Rogers,-filed suit for defamation against all of the appellants. The appellants filed motions to dismiss under Chapter 27 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.1 The trial court denied the motions. In three issues, the appellants argue (1) they proved that Rogers’s defamation claims are governed by Chapter 27, (2) Rogers failed to present prima facie evidence of his claims against them, and (3) the lawsuit should have been dismissed under the doctrine of judicial non-interference.

Appellants, Richard Fawcett, Kevin Roberts, Darrin Pitts,' George Lillard, Christopher Matthews, Armando Florido, Billy Moreno, David Vukovic, Ken Kirkpatrick, James Lemons, Douglas Hissong, and Salomon Lahana, filed a motion for rehearing from our January 14, 2016 opinion. We grant the motion for rehearing, withdraw our prior opinion and judgment, and issue this opinion and- a new judgment in their place. -

We affirm, in part, and reverse and render, in part.'

Background

All of the parties to this appeal, with the exception of Lahana, are members and officers of Gray Masonic Lodge 329, in Houston, Texas. Rogers served as the treasurer for Gray Lodge'from July 2011 to April 30, 2014. On August 6; 2014, all but three of the appellants, Lahana, His-song, and Lillard, signed a document entitled “Chargés of Masonic Disciplinary Violations,”- charging Rogers and-'two other members with violating several Masonic rules.

The document states that the charges “were public[ly] presented at the August 6th, 2014 stated meeting of Gray Lodge No. 329 _ in the presence of R.W. Dennis Billings District Deputy Grand Master, during his official' visit to the lodge.” The document also announced that everyone who “affixed their names” to the document was “in agreement to these charges.” The details of the charges as[22]*22serted against Rogers claimed that, among other things, he had (1) “violated his masonic Obligation wherein he promised he would not cheat wrong or defraud a Brother Master Mason or Master Masons Lodge, etc”; (2) “misappropriated funds therefore, cheating and defrauding Gray Lodge by signing a check ... and using Gray lodge funds for personal jewelry without the lodge[’]s consent”; and (3) allowed another member of the lodge to sign a check after that member had been removed as a signer on the bank account. Lahana and Hissong were listed as a potential witness regarding these allegations.

In response to the masonic charges, Rogers filed suit against the people who signed the charging document, Lahana, and Hissong. Rogers claimed that the allegations against him in the charging document were defamatory.

After Rogers filed suit, certain members of the lodge, including Lillard, sent emails discussing the suit. In one email in the exchange, Lillard suggested to Roberts that Roberts should contact the lodge’s insurance company, deny any wrongdoing, and inform the insurance company that Rogers may have committed a “swoop and squat” scheme. Specifically, Lillard wrote,

I also. recommend that you order (in writing) Mark to convey to the insurance ■ company • that we [heartily] deny any liability or wrong doing and (this is important) that the suing party is the same person who insisted .on the lodge tak[ing] out heavy liability coverage. Don’t, say “it is” but this might be a variation, of the old “swoop & squat” where the claimant “sets up” the claim ahead of time.

Lillard later included others officers of the lodge on the email chain containing the email in question. Soon after, Rogers amended his petition, naming Lillard as a defendant and claiming that the email in question was defamatory.

Once they answered, the defendants filed motions to dismiss based on 'Chapter 27 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.2 They also argued that the trial court should dismiss the suit based on the doctrine of judicial non-interference.

Rogers responded to the motion, asserting that Chapter 27 did not apply and that he had sufficient proof of his claims to prevent dismissal. ■ One of Rogers’s exhibits attached to the motion was his affidavit. In it, he averred that the parties that charged him with financial wrongdoing never consulted or involved the lodge’s treasurer. He also asserted that all of the defendants that signed the charging document knew an annual audit of the organization was underway and that two of the signers were on the audit committee. He testified that that the audit — completed two weeks after the charges — found no financial wrongdoing. The record also includes a letter stating that the grand master, who oversaw the investigation of the charges asserted against Rogers, “determined that the allegations do not rise to the level of a Masonic disciplinary violation. He dismissed the allegations.”

After a hearing, the trial court denied the motion to dismiss.

Motion to Dismiss

In their first two issues, the appellants argue that the trial court erred by denying their motion to dismiss because they proved that .Rogers’s claims are subject to Chapter 27 and because Rogers failed to establish the prima facie elements of his defamation claims. Before analyzing these issues, it is necessary to distinguish between certain appellants. Nine of the ap[23]*23pellants signed the document' charging Rogers with misappropriation of the lodge’s funds. We refer to them collectively as the “Signing Defendants.” The other three appellants, Lillard, Lahana, and Hissong, will be referred to individually:

A. Standard of Review

We review de novo a trial court’s ruling on a motion to dismiss pursuant to Chapter 27 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Better Bus. Bureau of Metro. Hous., Inc. v. John Moore Servs., Inc., 441 S.W.3d 345, 353 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2013, pet. denied); Newspaper Holdings, Inc. v. Crazy Hotel Assisted Living, Ltd., 416 S.W.3d 71, 80 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2013, pet. denied); Serafine v. Blunt, 466 S.W.3d 352, 357 (Tex.App.—Austin 2015, no pet.).

B. Whether the Claims Fall Under Chapter 27

Chapter 27 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code allows parties to seek dismissal of certain types of claims filed against them unless the opposing party presents prima facie evidence of each element of those claims. See Tex. Crv. PRAC. & Rem. Code Ann. §§ 27.003(a), 27.005(b)-(c) (Vernon 2015). This involves a two-step process. See Prather & Bland, Bullies Beware: Safeguarding Constitutional Rights Through Anti-SLAPP in Texas, 47 Tex. Tech. L. Rev. 725, 750-53 (2015). First, as it applies to this case, the moving party must show “that the legal action is based on, relates to, or is in response to the ■ party’s exercise of ... the right of association.” Civ, PRAC. & Rem. § 27.005(b)(3). If the movant, carries this burden, the non-movant must then submit prima facie proof of each essential element of the applicable claims.3 Id. § 27.005(c).

Rogers brought defamation claims against each of the appellants. The appellants argue that the ■ defamation claims relate to their .exercise of the right of association. A legal action that “is based on, relates to, or is in response to a party’s exercise of ... the right of association” falls under the protections of Chapter 27.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
492 S.W.3d 18, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3175, 2016 WL 1236991, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fawcett-v-rogers-texapp-2016.