Dallas City Wire

With Dallas recently found responsible for paying $23 million to $33 million due to a wayward fracking deal, it adds to the city’s list of recently lost legal battles that have resulted in significant payouts.

The Dallas Observer recently recounted some of the cases that have cost the city anywhere from five to nine figures.

In the aftermath of litigation over police and fire raises, the city went through decades of legal wrangling and a few years ago paid $235 million to settle the case.

The city also paid $25,000 in 2017 to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought by Robert Grodden, who was arrested 82 times in seven years for distributing literature and DVDs about the assassination of President Kennedy.

In the wake of the Dallas City Council’s 2016 ban of an adult industry expo from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the expo’s founder sued the city and was awarded $650,000.

To settle police misconduct cases in the last five years, the city has paid more than $10 million, including $610,000 to Kelvion Walker, who witnesses said had his hands up when he was shot in his car.

Following protests at the opening of the George W. Bush presidential library at SMU, several of the people arrested sought money from the city for attorneys’ fees, which amounted to a payout of more than $250,000.

Last month, the city paid $20,000 to settle a case brought by Yvette "Will Rap 4 Weed" Gbalazeh, whose lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the city’s panhandling ordinances.

Finally, Charity groups in 2007 sued the city under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act for restricting where they could feed homeless residents. Six years later, a judge found in favor of Big Heart Ministries and Rip Parker Memorial Homeless Ministry, which led to the city paying them a $250,000 settlement.