City of Houston v. Williams

A group of 321 retired firefighters sued the City of Houston to recover amounts deducted from payments they received upon termination of employment. The trial court denied the City’s jurisdictional plea asserting governmental immunity, and the court of appeals affirmed. 183 S.W.3d 409, 414 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2005). Because the firefighters’ only conceivable remedy is an award of money damages, we reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings.

State law requires that Houston firefighters receive lump-sum payments of accumulated…