§ 106.002.Remedies

The civil remedy, and what it offers is narrower than it first appears.

Where a person has violated or there are reasonable grounds to believe a person is about to violate the prohibition, the aggrieved person may sue for preventive relief, including a permanent or temporary injunction, a restraining order, or any other order.

The relief is preventive only. The section offers no damages — a person denied a licence because of their race can stop the practice, not be compensated for it.

That is a considerable limitation, and it is why claims of this kind are usually brought under federal civil rights law, where damages are available.

What this chapter adds is speed and directness. An injunction against the practice, in a Texas court, without the elements a federal claim requires.

Reaching a threatened violation is valuable. "Reasonable grounds to believe a person is about to violate" lets a claimant act before the licence is refused or the contract awarded elsewhere.

"Or any other order" leaves the form of relief open, so a court is not confined to the two named.

The fee provision is asymmetric: unless the state is the prevailing party, the court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney’s fees as part of the costs.

So a successful claimant may recover fees and the state may not, which is the pattern federal civil rights fee statutes follow and for the same reason — symmetrical fees would deter meritorious claims.

The state’s liability for costs is the same as that of a private person, which removes the ordinary governmental cost exemption for this chapter.