Fifth Circuit Revives Homebuilder’s Antitrust Suit Against Texas City

The Texas Water Code doesn’t grant a Texas city immunity from antitrust claims brought by a developer after the city blocked its request for retail water utility services, a federal appeals court ruled.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday reversed a ruling by a lower court that state-action immunity barred Megatel Homes LLC’s antitrust claims against Mansfield.

Megatel and Cipriani Island Azure LLC had sought to create a mixed-use residential and commercial development on property southwest of Mansfield, outside the city’s corporate boundaries but within its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Megatel requested retail water utility services from ...