Son drops lawsuit seeking to declare Houston Texans owner incapacitated
A lawsuit filed by one of the sons of the Houston Texans owner, who had tried to have her declared disabled, was dismissed Monday.
Robert Cary McNair Jr had filed in November to appoint a guardian for 87-year-old Janice McNair. But on Monday, Cary McNair’s attorneys, along with others involved in the case, filed a motion agreeing to jointly drop the lawsuit.
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News of the end of the case was first reported by the Houston Chronicle. Jeremy Fielding, an attorney for Cary McNair, told the newspaper that the family had made the joint decision to discuss the issues privately.
Fielding said Cary McNair is concerned about his mother’s health and filed the lawsuit to protect her and not to “control her estate, as his brother Cal has falsely suggested.”
Attorneys for Janice McNair and her son Cal McNair, president and CEO of the Texans, had previously pushed back on Cary McNair’s claims that the elder McNair was incapacitated or needed a guardian to control her personal, financial and medical decisions. Janice McNair became the principal owner of the Texans after her husband, Bob McNair, died in 2018.
“Cal McNair is thrilled that the frivolous lawsuit against his mother, Janice McNair, was dismissed today. He is relieved that she will not be burdened with an unnecessary medical examination, nor placed under an oppressive guardianship that would limit her rights. She will remain actively involved as the founder and senior chairman of the Houston Texans,” Paul Dobrowski, Cal McNair’s attorney, said in a statement.
The decision to end the lawsuit came after Judge Jerry Simoneaux ruled earlier this month that Janice McNair did not have to undergo an independent exam to assess her mental capacity. Cary McNair’s lawyers had requested the exam, arguing in court that her ability to conduct business had been affected by a stroke she suffered in January 2022.
Details about what prompted the custody order had remained largely private after Simoneaux previously ordered some documents in the lawsuit sealed.