DALLAS — A federal judge yesterday dismissed Exxxotica's lawsuit against the city of Dallas, filed after the City Council voted to ban the event from returning to its municipal convention center.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater dismissed the suit filed in Dallas federal court because the wrong company took the city to court. A trial was scheduled to begin next month.
Three Expo Events LLC didn't have standing to bring the suit, Fitzwater ruled, because Three Expo wasn't the name of the company on a 2015 contract. Exxxotica Dallas was the company.
According to the Dallas News, Exxxotica attorney Roger Albright said Friday that an appeal is likely because Fitzwater's order does not address the lawsuit's primary complaint, which is that the council violated the adult entertainment convention’s First Amendment rights when it banned it from a city-owned facility.
Exxxotica had planned to stage a three-day event at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center on May 20-22, 2015. But the city council and mayor later objected to it.
Exxxotica then sought approval for a preliminary injunction against the city, which refused to sign a new contract.
At the time, Fitzwater denied Exxxotica’s motion for an injunction, ruling that the convention center is a limited public forum.
