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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS McALLEN DIVISION ROBERT LOPEZ, § FEDERICO SALAZAR, § JAVIER GARCIA, § MARIA DOLORES SALINAS, § TED WALENSKY, § XENIA YARRITO MIRAMONTES, § LORENZO COLUNGA, § ROMEO GUERRA, § RODOLFO RODRIGUEZ, JR., § FELIX SALINAS, § GERARDO OLIVA, § BROOKS DITTO, § ALBERTO PONCE, § ESMERALDO LOPEZ, § LIANDRO GONZALEZ, § ARNULFO SANDOVAL, and §
Plaintiffs
, § § Civil Action No. 1:14-cv-636 v. § § JURY DEMANDED SERGIO RAMIREZ, in his individual § capacity, §
Defendant
. § O
RIGINAL
C
OMPLAINT
A
ND
A
PPLICATION FOR
P
RELIMINARY
I
NJUNCTION
TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT: COMES NOW, plaintiffs, ROBERT LOPEZ, FEDERICO SALAZAR, JAVIER GARCIA, MARIA DOLORES SALINAS, TED WALENSKY, XENIA YARRITO MIRAMONTES, LORENZO COLUNGA, ROMEO GUERRA, RODOLFO RODRIGUEZ, JR., FELIX SALINAS, GERARDO OLIVA, BROOKS DITTO, ALBERTO PONCE, ESMERALDO LOPEZ and ARNULFO SANDOVAL, in the above titled and numbered cause,
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pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1988, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution, Texas Local Government Code § 141.035, Texas Labor Code §§ 101.052 and 101.301 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343, bringing claims for violations of civil rights, and would respectfully show the Court as follows: I
NTRODUCTION
1.
Plaintiffs brings this civil rights action to redress the deprivation, under color of state law, rights, privileges and immunities secured to plaintiff by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution, Texas Local Government Code § 141.035, Texas Labor Code §§ 101.052 and 101.301. Defendant has engaged in
intentional conduct done for the sole purpose of violating plaintiff’s freedom of association.
Defendant has illegally used his position as Interim Chief of Police for the Weslaco Police Department to: a.
take plaintiffs off certain assignments which entail additional pay based solely
plaintiffs’ union membership;
b.
initiate baseless internal affairs investigations against plaintiffs based solely on their union membership; c.
rescind an outside employment authorization that only affects plaintiffs, based solely on their union membership; d.
cause
a “chilling effect”
on plaintiffs’ exercise of their First Amendment right
of freedom of association and freedom of speech; and Taken as a whole, defendant
’
s knowing, deliberate and intentional actions were impermissibly motivated by
plaintiffs’ union membership
and were done for the purpose of intimidating plaintiffs from taking an active part in their union affairs.
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2.
Plaintiff pleading complies with the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2).
1
P
ARTIES
3.
Plaintiff, ROBERT LOPEZ, is an individual citizen and resident of Hidalgo County, Texas. Mr. Lopez is a member of the Weslaco Municipal Police Union. 4.
Plaintiff, FEDERICO SALAZAR, is an individual citizen and resident of Hidalgo County, Texas. Mr. Salazar is a member of the Weslaco Municipal Police Union. 5.
Plaintiff, MARIA DOLORES SALINAS, is an individual citizen and resident of Cameron County, Texas. Ms. Salinas is a member of the Weslaco Municipal Police Union. 6.
Plaintiff, TED WALENSKY, is an individual citizen and resident of Hidalgo County, Texas. Mr. Walensky is a member of the Weslaco Municipal Police Union. 7.
Plaintiff, XENIA YARRITO MIRAMONTES, is an individual citizen and resident of Hidalgo County, Texas. Ms. Yarrito Miramontes is a member of the Weslaco Municipal Police Union. 8.
Plaintiff, LORENZO COLUNGA, is an individual citizen and resident of Hidalgo County, Texas. Mr. Colunga is a member of the Weslaco Municipal Police Union. 9.
Plaintiff, ROMEO GUERRA, is an individual citizen and resident of Hidalgo County, Texas. Mr. Guerra is a member of the Weslaco Municipal Police Union. 10.
Plaintiff, RODOLFO RODRIGUEZ, JR., is an individual citizen and resident of Hidalgo County, Texas. Mr. Rodriguez, Jr. is a member of the Weslaco Municipal Police Union.
1
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
, 556 U.S. 129 (2009)(holding that to satisfy the “plausible on its face” requirement in Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 8(a)(2) “[a] claim has facial plausibility when the pleaded factual
content allows the court to draw the
reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.”).
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