The firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of plaintiff Paige Dixon on April 12 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
This is not the firm’s first lawsuit against the district. In February 2019, the law firm filed a near identical suit against Lewisville ISD on behalf of Frank Vaughan.
U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan ruled in July 2020 in favor of LISD for lack of jurisdiction, stating Vaughan, a white man, did not have standing in his claims because he did not demonstrate the district’s at-large system specifically affected him.
In December 2021, the court awarded LISD $49,498 in attorney’s fees and ordered that Vaughan’s attorneys and the Brewer Storefront law firm were jointly liable for the fees, according to the Dec. 28 court ruling.
According to the new lawsuit, the district’s at-large system for electing the seven-member board denies representation to African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and other people of color, including Dixon, who is African American.
“The district has not yet been served with a lawsuit and is therefore unable to provide a statement at this time,” the district’s Executive Director of Communications Amanda Brim said in an email.
Dixon ran for LISD’s board of trustees Place 1 seat in 2021 and lost to Buddy Bonner.
“Our client represents a large number who believe the at-large election system used by Lewisville ISD illegally denies citizens of color a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing—trustees that represent their interests, schools and communities,” William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Storefront and lead counsel for Dixon, said in a April 12 news release. “Clearly, the school board should adopt an electoral process, which allows minority voters and community members to fairly participate in this vibrant, multiracial school district.”
Brewer Storefront has successfully resolved similar suits with Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD in 2015 and Grand Prairie ISD in 2014. It also won at trial in similar suits involving Irving ISD and the cities of Irving and Farmers Branch.
Richardson ISD agreed to change the way it elects its school board after a Voting Rights Act lawsuit was filed against it in 2018. Brewer Storefront’s case against Frisco ISD was dismissed in 2020.
The latest lawsuit will have no effect on the May 7 school board election in which residents throughout LISD will vote for three open seats.
