Katy ISD Reaches Settlement On Lawsuit Filed By Xpediant Resources

The Katy Independent School District today announced that the board of trustees has approved a settlement with Xpediant Resources, Inc., over a lawsuit the company filed against the district claiming it owed more than $600,000 in penalties, attorney fees and court costs for the hiring of former Xpediant employees.

Under terms of the settlement, the district agreed to pay Xpedient $67,500 to resolve the suit.

In a statement announcing the settlement, the district said the terms were “fair to the district and will save taxpayers the significant costs associated with further litigation.”

The trial court initially ruled in Katy ISD’s favor, dismissing the main claims in the lawsuit. However, one claim totaling $30,000 remained in dispute.

“Because the trial court’s ruling on the main issues in the case were subject to prolonged and expensive appeal, and rather than continue to spend district resources fighting a costly lawsuit, the district agreed to a favorable settlement under which it will pay Xpediant $67,500 to resolve the entire case once and for all,” the district said in the statement. 

The district consistently took the position it did not owe the money because Xpediant expressly agreed to allow the district to hire the employees and waived the payment of any such penalties. 

“Without such an agreement by Xpediant, the district would not have been able to hire the employees,” the statement said. 

The amount of the settlement agreement closely approximated the amount the district was willing to pay for the hiring of an employee at the end of the Xpediant contract, after the prior agreement to waive fees had been withdrawn. The settlement amount was also less than the district anticipated spending to have a trial on the remaining claim and on potential appeals over the larger main claims.

The district called the trial court’s ruling “a significant victory for Katy ISD” and said the settlement would “avoid the needless waste of district and taxpayer resources on continued legal expenses.”

Attempts to contact Xpediant for comment on the settlement were unsuccessful.