Appeals court upholds jury's $5M award over attorney groping
A $5 million jury verdict against a San Antonio attorney who grabbed an opposing counsel’s bottom in a courthouse lobby was upheld last week by a Texas appeals court. (Image from Shutterstock)
A $5 million jury verdict against a San Antonio attorney who grabbed an opposing counsel's bottom in a courthouse lobby was upheld last week by a Texas appeals court.
A panel from the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio ruled that the evidence was sufficient to support the assault finding and the damages award.
Houston attorney Michelle Acosta sued San Antonio lawyer Allan Manka, claiming that he assaulted her during a courthouse encounter in Wilson County, Texas, in June 2019.
Security camera footage showed Manka sliding his hand across Acosta’s lower back and waist, touching her hair and putting his arm around her shoulder. The incident happened while they were the opposing counsel in a family law case and were waiting in the lobby for their clients, according to a story by Law.com.
Acosta sued for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and, in 2024, a Texas jury awarded her $5 million in mental anguish damages.
“When viewed in the light most favorable to Acosta, the evidence described above would permit reasonable people to conclude that Manka grabbed and squeezed Acosta’s buttocks without her consent; that he knew his actions were ‘not professional’ and ‘not appropriate at all;’ and that he deliberately engaged in such actions because she was his opposing counsel and he wanted to make her uncomfortable,” Justice Lori I. Valenzuela wrote for the three-judge panel.
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