Brown v. Texas Board of Nurse Examiners

Yvonne Evette Mosley Brown is appealing the dismissal of a bill of review pursuant to the vexatious litigant statute. In three points of error, Brown argues the statute does not apply to bills of review, she has a constitutional right to a bill of review, and if the Texas vexatious litigant statute applies to her bill of review then the statute is unconstitutional. We affirm the trial courts judgment. Brown was a registered nurse who operated a home health care agency in Desoto, Texas. She was contacted by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners (the Board) regarding several alleged violations of the Nursing Practice Act. Eventually, the Board obtained a default judgment against Brown for failing to appear at a hearing to determine the status of her license. In April of 2000, her license was formally revoked by the Board. In June 2003, after filing numerous suits against the Board in numerous courts, Brown was declared to be a vexatious litigant pursuant to section 11.054(2) of the civil practices and remedies code by an order of the 126th Judicial District Court of Travis County. Tex. Civ. Prac. &; Rem. Code § 11.054(2) (Vernon 2002). In the order, the trial court found there was not a reasonable probability Brown would prevail in her present litigation because the issues surrounding the revocation of her license by the Board had been adjudicated and are final. The court ordered Brown to post security for the Boards costs and attorneys fees; should she fail to post security, the current cause would be dismissed on the merits. In its order, the court also prohibited Brown from filing any new pro se lawsuits in the courts of Texas without the permission of the Local Administrative Judge of the court in which she intended to file the litigation. However, in April 2004, Brown filed another pro se lawsuit in the 191st District Court in Dallas, this time a bill of review. The Board notified the trial court of Browns status as a vexatious litigant. The trial court stayed the action until Brown obtained permission to bring said action, pursuant to the pre-filing order. Eventually, in July of 2004, having found Brown had not complied with the pre-filing order, the trial court dismissed her bill of review action. Brown appeals. In her first point of error, Brown argues the vexatious litigant statute does not apply to bills of review. She contends an action for an equitable bill of review is not "litigation" within the meaning of the vexatious litigant statute. We disagree.