Reported / Citable
Background
William E. Washington, proceeding pro se, alleged that Texas Civil Commitment Center employee Brent Reubensam sexually assaulted him between March and June 2023 by performing oral sex and groping him. Washington alleged that the conduct was unwanted and caused physical and emotional harm.
Washington also alleged that Reubensam targeted young-looking gay Black men and singled him out because he was part of the facility’s LGBTQ community. After preliminary screening, most of Washington’s claims were dismissed, but Reubensam was ordered to answer claims involving bodily integrity, equal protection, civil sexual assault, and civil assault. Reubensam filed an answer.
The Court’s Holding
The magistrate judge recounted that the claims surviving preliminary screening were a Fourteenth Amendment bodily-integrity claim, a class-of-one equal-protection claim, and Texas claims for civil sexual assault, assault causing bodily injury, and assault by contact.
Because not all parties had consented to proceed before a magistrate judge, the magistrate judge terminated the referral and transferred the case back to the district judge for further proceedings, including implementation of a scheduling order. The order redesignated the matter as Civil Action No. 5:24-cv-228-H.
Key Takeaways
- The order did not decide the merits of Washington’s surviving claims.
- Washington’s bodily-integrity, class-of-one equal-protection, and specified Texas assault claims had survived preliminary screening.
- The case returned to the district judge because the parties had not all consented to magistrate-judge jurisdiction.
Why It Matters
The order moves the surviving constitutional and state-law claims beyond preliminary screening and into ordinary district-court case management. It also clarifies that the operative docket number following the transfer is 5:24-cv-228-H.