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Vic Mignogna Petitions Supreme Court of Texas to Review His Lawsuit
posted on by Alex Mateo
Although the Tarrant County District Court and the Texas Second Court of Appeals have ruled against Mignogna, the voice actor and his lawyers argue "the court of appeals upend[ed] numerous elements of established Texas law" in its ruling.
Mignogna and his lawyers argue that the previous court rulings disregarded the rule that Rule 11 agreements (which let "lawyers and parties to any lawsuit enter into a written agreement on any subject matter of the lawsuit") are interpreted and treated as contracts, and that unambiguous contracts may not be re-written by courts. In addition, the petition claims that the court excluded Mignogna's Second Amended Petition because it was filed in violation of the re-written Rule 11 Agreement.
The petition claims the courts also made errors regarding the following points: determining that Mignogna is a "public figure" with "insufficient" evidence, holding that a party can be "involuntarily converted into a 'limited-purpose public figure' ... by defending himself against defamatory statements," dismissing Mignogna's defamation claims, and "ignor[ing] ... testimony" when the appeals court reversed and remanded the trial court's award of US$100,000 to Rial and Toye's attorneys.
Funimation, Marchi, Rial, and Toye all waived the filing of a response to the petition, but stated they will file a response if the court requests one.
Mignogna's Appeals
In August, the Texas Second Court of Appeals upheld the Tarrant County District Court's November 2019 judgment against Mignogna regarding the lawsuit. The court however also determined the attorney's fee amount initially awarded to Rial and Toye was less than what was "supported by factually sufficient evidence."
Therefore, the appeals court ordered the Tarrant County District Court to redetermine the awards that Mignogna must pay Rial and Toye for their attorney's fees. Otherwise, the appeals court rejected all points of Mignogna's appeal and affirmed the original ruling of the trial court. The appeals court also ordered Mignogna to "pay all costs of this appeal."
Mignogna then made requests for a court rehearing and En Banc Reconsideration (in which all of the judges of an appellate court participate in the rehearing) on September 20. On September 29, the Texas Second Court of Appeals denied Mignogna's requests for a court rehearing and En Banc Reconsideration. The court maintained its judgment made in August against Mignogna.
Original Case
Over the course of his career, controversial voice actor Mignogna has received multiple allegations of sexual harassment from both colleagues and fans/convention attendees, which came to a head in 2019 when Funimation ceased its working relationship with him. Mignogna then sued both Funimation and voice actor colleagues Marchi and Rial, as well as Rial's fiance Toye, for defamation. The court later dismissed these lawsuits. The judge ruled that Mignogna must pay US$223,042.42 in attorneys' fees to the defendants. The judgment also ordered him to pay US$15,000 in sanctions, for a total of US$238,042.42. Additionally, the judgment listed US$287,500 in contingent fees that Mignogna may have to pay if he chose to appeal.
The trial court based its decision on the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Like several other states, Texas passed this statute to prevent SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), or lawsuits filed to stifle other people's freedoms of speech, association, and petition.
Over the course of the lawsuit, multiple witnesses and alleged victims of Mignogna's sexual advances or unwanted affection came forward including voice actress Kara Edwards, underage con attendees, convention staff, and industry professionals.
Mignogna has maintained that he is innocent of the allegations against him.
Source: Texas Supreme Court
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history