November 8, 2016

JUDGMENT

The Fourteenth Court of Appeals

HOUSTON LAUREATE ASSOCIATES, LTD., Appellant

NO. 14-15-00491-CV V.

MAROLYN RUSSELL, JOEL GOFFMAN, M.D., AND PARK LAUREATE 

PLACE HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, Appellees

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This cause, an appeal by defendant Houston Laureate Associates, Ltd. 

(“Houston Laureate”) from the amended final judgment and permanent injunction 

signed May 13, 2015 in favor of plaintiff Marolyn Russell and intervenors Joel 

Goffman and Park Laureate Place Homeowners’ Association (“the Association”), 

was heard on the transcript of the record. We have inspected the record and find 

error in the judgment. 

We hold that the trial court erred in (a) ruling on the question, not presented 

in a summary-judgment motion, of whether the indemnification provision found in 

section 3.2 of the Recreational Easement Agreement authorizes Houston Laureate 

to charge the appellees for the attorney’s fees and court costs Houston Laureate 

incurred in this case in defending against claims for monetary damages; 

(b) granting summary judgment on the question of whether the operation-expenses 

provision found in section 2.3 of the Recreational Easement Agreement authorizes 

Houston Laureate to charge the appellees for a portion of the attorney’s fees 

Houston Laureate incurred in this case; and (c) permanently enjoining Houston 

Laureate from interfering with an appellee’s rights to use and enjoyment of the 

Recreational Easement Agreement or of the Recreational Land.
We therefore REFORM the judgment to replace the trial court’s list of the 

permanent injunctive relief with the following:

Plaintiff Marolyn Russell and Intervenors Joel Goffman and Park 

Laureate Place Homeowners’ Association (collectively, “the 

Residents”) are entitled to a permanent injunction against Defendant 

Houston Laureate Associates, Ltd. (“Houston Laureate”) on their 

claims for breach of contract. It is, therefore, ORDERED that 

Defendant Houston Laureate Associates, along with its officers, 

agents, partners, employees, and all others with whom they are in 

privity, be and hereby are permanently enjoined from:

 Limiting the Residents’ use of the Park Laureate Grounds covered 

by the Recreational Easement Agreement (“REA”) to asphalt 

paths;

 Imposing any charge, directly or indirectly, on the Residents for 

using a personal trainer at the Park Laureate exercise facility, or on 

such a trainer employed by a Resident; 

 Seeking indemnity under section 3.2 of the REA for attorney’s fees 

and court costs Houston Laureate has incurred in this proceeding in 

defending against the Residents’ requests for injunctive relief;

 Otherwise imposing any charge on the Residents, or seeking 

indemnity from the Residents, for attorney’s fees and court costs 

that Houston Laureate has incurred in this proceeding and that 

Houston Laureate has waived its contractual right, if any, to 

recover; 

 Suspending or purporting to suspend a Resident’s rights under the 

REA based on a purported failure or refusal to pay an amount due 

under the REA when the amount is disputed and there has been no 

judicial determination that the amount is owed; and 

 Threatening criminal prosecution of a Resident, for trespass or 

otherwise, based on a purported suspension of rights under the 

REA.

We order the judgment of the court below AFFIRMED except as modified 

in this judgment.
We order appellant Houston Laureate Associates, Ltd. to pay all costs 

incurred in this appeal. 

We further order this decision certified below for observance.