From Soliz v. Alamo Colleges Dist., decided by Judge David Ezra (W.D. Tex.) on Sept. 16:
Plaintiff Joseph Soliz, who is proceeding pro se, was at all times relevant to this case a student at St. Philip's College, an individual college within the Alamo Community Colleges District ("ACCD") system. He was enrolled in a class taught by Roy Ruiz, named as a defendant here.
On January 17, 2024, Soliz and Ruiz got into a dispute during class. Soliz was working on a lab exercise regarding electrical circuits. His digital multimeter alarmed at least once. Ruiz came over and offered to assist him, and Soliz told him that he would "get it figured out." Ruiz then explained multiple times to Soliz that he was not following directions. Soliz insisted that he was doing it his own way and asked Ruiz not to "micromanage" him. Ruiz took away his lab papers, and Soliz took them back, refusing to relinquish them. Ruiz threatened to summon campus police and instead summoned Elizabeth Leon, a St. Philip's staff member. Ms. Leon attempted to resolve the issue with Soliz, but Soliz did not cooperate and "told [her] the conversation was over."
The next morning, Ruiz sent an email to Soliz asking him not to attend class that day. The email explained that, in Ruiz's view, Soliz had been unduly combative and had misused equipment, which Ruiz believed posed a safety risk, and that Soliz had refused to follow instructions and disrupted the class. Soliz attended class anyway. Ruiz approached Soliz and said that if he refused to leave, Ruiz would call campus police. Soliz refused, and Ruiz followed through on his statement.
Campus police arrived and took Soliz with them to "temporary campus police offices." They showed Soliz the email that Ruiz had sent that morning, establishing the grounds for his removal from class. Campus administrators came by and were discussing the matter outside the office. Soliz, "hearing discussion about [him], left the campus police temporary offices and entered the hallway." Soliz briefly talked over the incident with school administrators, who planned to scheduled him for a student conduct meeting to be held on Monday, January 22, 2024. They then sent Soliz a notification for a Zoom meeting to take place on January 19, 2024. Soliz states he did not attend the meeting because it was too short notice, and because he was unable "to engage counsel or be able to research or craft a defense." As a result of the classroom dispute, Soliz states, he "was barred from both of Roy's class[es] he was enrolled in until he had additional safety instruction." …
