Nearly two years after Shanna Granger filed suit against her former employer over a canceled Oktoberfest agreement, her legal battle against the Tarrant Regional Water District has come to a close.
The Second District Court of Appeals at Fort Worth dismissed Granger’s remaining claims against the water district, ruling that the agency has governmental immunity and a trial court does not have jurisdiction, or authority, to rule on the case. The March 14 decision reverses a lower court decision that would have allowed some of Granger’s claims to move forward to trial.
“TRWD appreciates the court’s review and agrees with its reasoning,” water district spokesman Chad Lorance said. “From the beginning, TRWD has believed that it acted in accordance with what the law required it to do.”
Granger and her attorneys will not petition the Texas Supreme Court to review the decision, ending her legal fight against the district, she said.
In her June 2022 lawsuit, Granger sought up to $1 million in damages after the water district terminated her agreement to host an Oktoberfest event at Panther Island Pavilion. She and her company, Prost Production, have since held two Oktoberfest events at Trinity Park, with plans to host another this September.
The termination came after water district board members raised concerns that the agency was opening itself up to legal issues by essentially giving a profitable event to Granger’s company without board approval. Granger, the wife of former Panther Island executive J.D. Granger and daughter-in-law of U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, previously organized Oktoberfests for the water district.
Granger’s attorneys argued her agreement, which they described as a short-term lease rather than a permit, was wrongly revoked because of a personal conflict between the Grangers and board member James Hill, who advised general manager Dan Buhman to reevaluate the contract.
The water district hid behind its claim of governmental immunity to avoid honoring the lease agreement it entered with her, Shanna Granger said in a statement.
“From the beginning, they have dodged the true issue: TRWD terminated the lease without a valid reason for doing so and without due process,” she said. “The legal action that I took and the ruling in our favor by the trial judge showed a clear lack of transparency and disregard for the law.”
In the appeals court decision, Justice Mike Wallach wrote that governmental immunity does not shield agencies from violations of the takings clause. The clause protects people from having their property taken, damaged, destroyed or applied to public use without adequate compensation.
However, Wallach wrote, Granger’s attorneys did not establish that she had property rights to Panther Island Pavilion by entering a lease agreement with the water district. The agreement was “unambiguous” and labeled a permit, not a lease, Wallach wrote. That distinction allows the water district to retain its governmental immunity.
“It clearly and unmistakably provides that Granger is receiving a non-exclusive right to use the District’s property for a limited time for a limited purpose,” Wallach wrote.
Under the terms of the decision, Granger and Prost Production must pay legal costs related to the appeal.
“My hope is that the light brought to this situation will deter TRWD from doing this to another party in the future,” Granger said.
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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