icon-benefit-administrators-ii-lp-american-administrative-group-inc ( 2013 )


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  •       TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
    NO. 03-11-00459-CV
    ICON Benefit Administrators II, L.P.; American Administrative Group, Inc.; and
    HealthSmart Preferred Care, II, L.P., Appellants
    v.
    Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas; and The City of Lubbock, Appellees
    FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 345TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
    NO. D-1-GN-11-001866, HONORABLE JOHN K. DIETZ, JUDGE PRESIDING
    OPINION
    This is an appeal from an order denying a temporary injunction in a suit challenging
    an Attorney General’s open-records decision. The suit was initiated by appellants ICON Benefit
    Administrators II, L.P.; American Administrative Group, Inc. (AAG); and HealthSmart Preferred
    Care, II, L.P. (collectively the “Parker Group”1) and seeks to compel the City of Lubbock and the
    Attorney General to withhold from public disclosure an “audit report” in the City’s possession that
    addresses services provided by Parker Group entities to the City. Following an evidentiary hearing,
    the district court issued an order denying the Parker Group’s application for temporary injunction.
    The Parker Group filed a notice of appeal and moved for an emergency stay pending this Court’s
    resolution of its appeal. We granted the stay. For the reasons explained below, we now overrule the
    Parker Group’s contentions on appeal, affirm the district court’s order, and vacate the stay.
    1
    A reference to the entities’ common ownership or affiliation, also used by the parties.
    BACKGROUND
    From 2004 through 2006, the City of Lubbock contracted with two Parker Group
    companies—appellants ICON and AAG—to provide third-party administration of the City’s self-
    funded health-care plan. The City contracted with a third Parker Group company—appellant
    HealthSmart—to serve as the City’s “preferred provider” organization for that same plan. During
    the course of the City’s relationship with the Parker Group, disputes arose as to whether ICON
    and AAG had complied with their administrator contracts with the City, and the Parker Group
    ultimately initiated arbitration proceedings to resolve the disputes. The Parker Group also filed a
    related defamation action in a Dallas County court at law against several of the City’s employees
    who, according to the Parker Group, had publicly and falsely accused the Parker Group of
    mishandling the City’s contracts.
    In the Dallas defamation case, the City hired an expert, Sally Reaves, to audit the
    administrative services that ICON and AAG had performed for the City’s health-care plans. The
    purpose of the audit was to determine whether the employees’ alleged statements regarding the
    Parker Group were, in fact, true, and thus not actionable defamation. Thereafter, a discovery dispute
    arose as to whether Reaves could gain access to certain Parker Group documents and information
    that were ostensibly necessary for her to conduct her audit. The Dallas County Court at Law ordered
    the Parker Group to produce certain sensitive materials under a protective order that restricted the
    use and disclosure of the materials and “all information derived therefrom.” The protective order
    was later amended to allow the City to use the protected materials in the arbitration proceeding.
    Before Reaves finished her audit and report, the parties settled the Dallas defamation
    case, and it was dismissed. But the arbitration remained ongoing, and the parties to that proceeding
    2
    disputed whether Reaves’s forthcoming audit could be used in it. The arbitrator ruled that the City
    could use the audit and issued a protective order that was substantially identical to the one issued in
    the Dallas lawsuit. The City instructed Reaves to finish her audit. Reaves later submitted to the City
    a document dated March 18, 2011, and titled “Audit of the Parker Group Administration of Benefit
    Plans for the City of Lubbock” (Reaves Audit).
    In April 2011, shortly after Reaves submitted the Reaves Audit to the City, the
    City received three requests under the Texas Public Information Act (PIA)2 that called for its
    production. Concluding that the Parker Group’s interests were implicated, the City notified the
    Parker Group of the requests and requested an opinion from the Attorney General as to whether
    the PIA required it to produce the Reaves Audit. See Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 552.301 (PIA provision
    requiring governmental body that receives written request for information it wishes to withhold
    to ask for decision from attorney general), .305 (requiring governmental body that requests decision
    to notify affected third parties that they may submit briefing to attorney general). The Attorney
    General determined that the City was required to release the Reaves Audit because it was subject to
    mandatory disclosure under the PIA. See Tex. Att’y Gen. OR2011-08928.
    Around this same time, the Parker Group had filed a motion in the dismissed Dallas
    defamation suit seeking enforcement of that court’s protective order to prevent public disclosure
    of the Reaves Audit. The Parker Group argued that the protective order prohibited public disclosure
    of the Reaves Audit because it contained protected materials and information derived from them.
    After a hearing, the Dallas County Court at Law signed an order in July 2011 declaring that public
    2
    The PIA is codified in Chapter 552 of the Government Code. See Tex. Gov’t Code
    §§ 552.001–.353.
    3
    disclosure of the Reaves Audit was not prohibited by the protective order and denying the Parker
    Group’s motion. The Parker Group appealed the county court at law’s order to the Dallas Court of
    Appeals. Recently, that court reversed the county court at law’s order, holding that the protective
    order prohibits public disclosure of the Reaves Audit. See Icon Benefit Admins. II, L.P. v. Mullin,
    __S.W.3d__, No. 05–11–00935–CV, 
    2013 WL 2423171
    , at *6 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 5, 2013,
    no pet. h.).
    While its appeal to the Dallas Court of Appeals remained pending, the Parker Group
    filed the underlying suit in the Travis County District Court against the Attorney General and the
    City, seeking declaratory judgment that the Reaves Audit was protected from public disclosure. See
    Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 552.3215, .325 (PIA provision authorizing suit for declaratory judgment by
    party seeking to withhold information from requestor). The Parker Group also requested temporary
    and permanent injunctions enjoining the public release of the audit. The district court granted the
    Parker Group’s request for a temporary restraining order, but after discovery and an evidentiary
    hearing on its application for a temporary injunction, issued an order denying Parker Group’s
    application and dissolving the temporary restraining order. In its order, the district court stated
    that the Reaves Audit “is a completed report, audit, evaluation, or investigation made of, for, or by
    a governmental body” under PIA section 552.022(a), that “there is no other law excepting the
    Reaves Audit from disclosure,” and that the Parker Group “failed to prove a probable right of
    recovery to support” its application for temporary injunction. It is from this order that Parker Group
    now appeals.3
    3
    See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014(a)(4) (permitting interlocutory appeal of
    district court’s grant or denial of an application for temporary injunction).
    4
    DISCUSSION
    The Parker Group brings six issues on appeal. In four of the six issues, it challenges
    the district court’s decision to deny the temporary injunction, principally arguing that it has shown a
    probable right to relief. In its remaining two issues, the Parker Group challenges evidentiary rulings
    made by the district court during the temporary-injunction hearing.
    Temporary injunction
    A temporary injunction is an extraordinary remedy that does not issue as a matter
    of right. Butnaru v. Ford Motor Co., 
    84 S.W.3d 198
    , 204 (Tex. 2002). The purpose of a temporary
    injunction is to preserve the subject matter of the litigation pending a trial on the merits. 
    Id. To obtain
    a temporary injunction, the applicant must plead and prove three elements: (1) a cause of
    action against the defendant; (2) a probable right to the relief sought; and (3) a probable, imminent,
    and irreparable injury in the interim. 
    Id. Whether to
    grant or deny a temporary injunction is within
    the trial court’s sound discretion. 
    Id. Only the
    second element is implicated in this appeal.
    Because the decision to grant or deny a temporary injunction lies within the
    sound discretion of the trial court, we will not disturb that decision absent a clear abuse of discretion.
    See 
    id. We must
    not substitute our judgment for that of the trial court unless the trial court’s action
    was so arbitrary that it exceeded the bounds of reasonable discretion. 
    Id. We review
    the evidence
    before the trial court in the light most favorable to the court’s ruling, draw all reasonable inferences
    from the evidence, and defer to the trial court’s resolution of conflicting evidence. See Davis
    v. Huey, 
    571 S.W.2d 859
    , 862 (Tex. 1978); INEOS Grp. Ltd. v. Chevron Phillips Chem. Co., L.P.,
    
    312 S.W.3d 843
    , 848 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2009, no pet.). A trial court does not abuse
    5
    its discretion if it heard conflicting evidence, and evidence appears in the record that reasonably
    supports the trial court’s decision. See 
    Butnaru, 84 S.W.3d at 211
    ; 
    Davis, 571 S.W.2d at 862
    ;
    
    INEOS, 312 S.W.3d at 848
    . A trial court abuses its discretion in granting or denying a temporary
    injunction when it misapplies the law to the established facts. See State v. Southwestern Bell Tel.
    Co., 
    526 S.W.2d 526
    , 528 (Tex. 1975).
    The Texas Public Information Act
    The Texas Legislature enacted the PIA with the express purpose of providing the
    public “complete information about the affairs of government and the official acts of public officials
    and employees.” Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.001(a); Jackson v. State Office of Admin. Hearings,
    
    351 S.W.3d 290
    , 293 (Tex. 2011).          The PIA is aimed at preserving a fundamental tenet
    of representative democracy: “that the government is the servant and not the master of the people,”
    Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.001(a); 
    Jackson, 351 S.W.3d at 293
    , and reflects the public policy that the
    people of Texas “remain[] informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have
    created,” Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.001(a); see 
    Jackson, 351 S.W.3d at 293
    . To advance these policy
    goals, the Legislature has directed that we liberally construe the PIA in favor of disclosure of
    requested information. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.001; 
    Jackson, 352 S.W.3d at 293
    .
    The PIA guarantees access to “public information,” subject to certain exceptions.
    See generally Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 552.001–.353. “Public information” is defined within the PIA
    as “information collected, assembled, or maintained under a law or ordinance or in connection with
    the transaction of official business” by or for a governmental body. 
    Id. § 552.002(a).
    There is no
    dispute that the Reaves Audit is “public information” under the PIA. As such, it is subject to
    6
    public disclosure under section 552.021 unless it qualifies for one of the exceptions to disclosure
    provided in subchapter C of the PIA. See Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 552.101–.153 (subchapter C, titled
    “Information Excepted From Required Disclosure”). The exceptions “embrace the understanding
    that the public’s right to know is tempered by the individual and other interests at stake in disclosing
    the information.” Texas Dep’t of Pub. Safety v. Cox Tex. Newspapers, L.P., 
    343 S.W.3d 112
    , 114
    (Tex. 2011). But the PIA also generally excludes certain categories of public information—called
    “core public information”—from the exceptions, unless the information is made expressly
    confidential under other law. See Act of May 25, 1999, 76th Leg., R.S., ch. 1319, § 5, 1999 Tex.
    Gen. Laws 4500, 4501–02 (current version at Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.022) (hereinafter cited as
    “Former Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.022”) (providing mandatory disclosure for certain categories of
    documents unless they are “expressly confidential under other law”);4 
    Cox, 343 S.W.3d at 114
    (describing categories as “core public information”). Of particular relevance here, “a completed
    report, audit, evaluation, or investigation made of, for, or by a governmental body” is one of the
    categories of “core public information.” See Former Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.022(a)(1).
    Probable right to relief
    The Parker Group urges that the district court abused its discretion in concluding
    that they had failed to show a probable right to relief, i.e., a likelihood of prevailing on its claims that
    4
    We cite to the 1999 version of PIA section 552.022 because that is the version that was
    in effect when the PIA request was made in this case. See Act of May 28, 2011, 82d Leg., R.S.,
    ch. 1229, § 2, 2011 Tex. Gen. Laws 3271 (making amendments applicable to requests for
    information received on or after Sept. 1, 2011). The 2011 changes to subsection (a) provided that
    core public information was not excepted from disclosure “unless made confidential under this
    chapter or other law.” See 
    id. 7 the
    Reaves Audit is shielded from disclosure under the PIA. See 
    Butnaru, 84 S.W.3d at 204
    (noting
    that applicant for temporary injunction must show a probable right to relief). To that end, they
    principally challenge the district court’s underlying finding that the Reaves Audit is a “completed”
    audit under PIA section 552.022(a) and, thus, core public information. Specifically, they insist that
    (1) the Reaves Audit is not a “completed” audit under the PIA and, therefore, is not “core” public
    information that must be produced regardless of any applicable PIA exceptions; and thus (2) the
    Reaves Audit is excepted from disclosure under PIA section 552.107(b) because “a court order has
    prohibited disclosure of the information.”5
    The Parker Group places great emphasis on what they believe to be erroneous
    comments on the record by the district court to the effect that a “completed” audit requires
    only facial completeness. However, any such views expressed by the district court were not reflected
    in any findings or conclusions and, consequently, are not material to our review. See Cherokee
    Water Co. v. Gregg Cnty. Appraisal Dist., 
    801 S.W.2d 872
    , 878 (Tex. 1990) (holding that judge’s
    comments prior to judgment were not findings of fact); Texas Bd. of Chiropractic Examrs. v. Texas
    Med. Ass’n, 
    375 S.W.3d 464
    , 482 n. 24 (Tex. App.—Austin 2012, pet. denied) (noting that judge’s
    explanatory letter to parties does not impact the standard or scope of appellate review). In any event,
    we would affirm the district court’s right result even in the face of its wrong legal explanation. See
    Beck v. Law Offices of Edwin J. (Ted) Terry, Jr., P.C., 
    284 S.W.3d 416
    , 442 (Tex. App.—Austin
    2009, no pet.) (noting that a trial court does not abuse its discretion if it reaches the right result for
    5
    The Parker Group does not assert that the Dallas protective order would shield the Reaves
    Audit from disclosure in the event the district court properly determined it to be core public
    information. We express no opinion as to whether it would.
    8
    the wrong reason (citing Donaldson v. Barr, 
    86 S.W.3d 718
    , 720 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.]
    2002, no pet.)). Instead, the appropriate focus is on whether there is evidence that supports the
    district court’s finding that the Reaves Audit was “completed.” See 
    Butnaru, 84 S.W.3d at 211
    (“The
    trial court does not abuse its discretion if some evidence reasonably supports the trial court’s
    decision.”).
    The Parker Group urges that the evidence negates “completeness” because the
    copy of the Reaves Audit in dispute omits a “Detailed Findings of Claims Audit,” which the
    document indicates was intended to be attached as an appendix. The Parker Group thus suggests that
    a “completed” audit under PIA section 522.022 is an audit that contains all its component parts—i.e.,
    is “whole.” In contrast, the Attorney General and the City imply that a “completed” audit is one that
    has been finished or brought to an end, such that the copy of the Reaves Audit in dispute may be
    “complete” even if the aforementioned appendix was omitted. Consequently, we must confront a
    threshold issue of statutory construction—i.e., in what sense did the Legislature use “completed”?
    Because the PIA does not define “completed,” we must look to its plain and ordinary
    meaning. See Presidio Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Scott, 
    309 S.W.3d 927
    , 930 (Tex. 2010). To do so here,
    we begin with the word’s usage within the relevant PIA provisions. We find it significant that
    the Legislature used “completed” in section 552.022 rather than “complete.” See Tex. Gov’t Code
    § 522.022(a)(1). “Completed,” as it is used in section 552.022, is the past-participle form of the verb
    “complete,” which primarily means “bring to an end.” See Webster’s Third New Int’l Dictionary
    465 (defining the verb “complete”), 1646 (defining “participle”), 1653 (defining “past participle”)
    (2002); see also Tex. Gov’t Code § 311.011(a) (Code Construction Act provision requiring
    that “[w]ords and phrases shall be read in context and construed according to the rules of grammar
    9
    and common usage”). Past participles such as “completed” usually have a passive meaning. See
    Webster’s at 1653 (noting that past participle forms of transitive verbs usually have passive
    meanings); see also 
    id. at 465
    (noting that “complete” is a transitive verb). In comparison, the
    adjective “complete” primarily means “possessing all necessary parts, items, components, or
    elements: not lacking anything necessary”—i.e., “entire” or “whole”—while its secondary meaning
    is “brought to an end or to a final or intended condition: concluded.” See 
    id. (defining adjective
    “complete”). Thus, a “completed audit” denotes an audit that has been brought to an end and a
    “complete audit” would be a whole audit or the entire audit. Accordingly, under the plain terms
    of PIA section 552.022, an audit is core public information if it has been, simply stated, finished.
    See 
    id. at 853
    (defining “finish” as “bring to an end”). And while a “completed” audit may also be
    “complete”—as in containing the whole or entire—it is not required to be so under the plain terms
    of section 552.022(a). Similarly, because section 552.022(a) comprehends the possibility that a
    “completed” (finished) audit may nonetheless not be “complete” (a whole copy), the fact that an
    audit is not “complete,” while perhaps capable of supporting an inference that the audit has likewise
    not been “completed,” would fall short of conclusive evidence of that fact.
    The evidence presented to the district court in connection with the temporary
    injunction included testimony from Reaves, the author of the audit, that she had been retained in the
    Dallas defamation case to audit the Parker Group’s administration of the City’s healthcare plan, that
    she created the Reaves Audit, and that she submitted it to the City on March 18, 2011, in what she
    considered to be a completed form. Specifically, she described the Reaves Audit as her “final audit
    report” and also averred that “based on [her] education, training, and experience,” the Reaves Audit
    “is final, complete, statistically reliable, and was done in accordance with accepted industry
    10
    standards and methodology.” The copy of the Reaves Audit that was admitted into evidence under
    seal is dated March 18, 2011, and has Reaves’s signature on the front page under “Prepared and
    Submitted by.” In the introduction, the audit explains, “This report presents [the auditor]’s findings
    of a detailed review of The Parker Group’[s] administration of the City of Lubbock medical,
    pharmacy and dental plans . . . . ,” and “sets forth [the auditor]’s conclusions and observations
    derived from the review of the available information.” The evidence in the record also includes
    documentation showing that the City of Lubbock, which hired Reaves to conduct the audit,
    considered the Reaves Audit to be completed.
    The Parker Group emphasized in its evidence to the district court that the audit was
    missing certain components. First, as described earlier, the table of contents for the Reaves Audit
    references an appendix titled “Detailed Findings of Claims Audit,” but the page listed is essentially
    blank except for the words “APPENDIX - DETAILED FINDINGS OF CLAIMS AUDIT.” Nothing
    else matching the description of the appendix is attached to the audit. The Parker Group further
    presented lengthy testimony from a certified public accountant that the Reaves Audit was not a
    completed audit because, generally stated, the appendix was not attached and the audit did not meet
    accounting industry standards for audits. It should be noted here, however, that Reaves testified
    that she was not an accountant. Finally, the Parker Group elicited a stipulation from the attorney
    representing the City that the Reaves Audit remained an ongoing concern in the arbitration
    proceedings and that the City continued to request documents related to the subject matter of the
    Reaves Audit after the Dallas case had concluded. But while these circumstances—i.e., a missing
    appendix, failure to meet accounting standards, and continued expansion and use—may be probative
    11
    of whether the Reaves Audit is “completed” under the plain language of the PIA, they are not
    singularly dispositive of whether the Reaves Audit was brought to an end or concluded.
    Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the district court’s ruling, drawing
    all legitimate inferences from the evidence, and deferring to the district court’s resolution of
    the conflicting evidence, we conclude that the evidence before the district court supports its
    determination that the Reaves Audit was completed and, thus, core public information under the PIA.
    Although the Parker Group’s argument regarding the missing appendix has some intuitive appeal
    and, as suggested, may be probative of whether the audit was “completed,” there is evidence in the
    record to support the district court’s conclusion that the Reaves Audit was finished or concluded.
    Further, while it may be true that professional accounting standards require more than what the
    Reaves Audit offers and that fact may be probative of the audit’s state of completion (and
    competency), a non-conforming audit could still be concluded, especially given the evidence that
    Reaves was not an accountant subject to those professional standards and that she had finished it
    according to other applicable standards. For essentially the same reasons, the evidence that the City
    and Reaves continued to work on the Reaves Audit after March 18, 2011, in connection with the
    arbitration proceeding is likewise not dispositive of whether the Reaves audit is a “completed” audit.
    In sum, although there is evidence that Reaves continued to work on the Reaves Audit after
    March 18, 2011, that the audit was missing contents as of March 18, 2011, and that the audit did
    not meet professional accounting standards, there is some evidence that the Reaves Audit was
    finished as of March 18, 2011. As such, the district court’s conclusion that the Reaves Audit is a
    “completed” audit is supported by the evidence. See 
    Butnaru, 84 S.W.3d at 211
    (“The trial court
    does not abuse its discretion if some evidence reasonably supports the trial court’s decision.”).
    12
    The district court’s conclusion that the Reaves Audit was a “completed audit”
    meant that it was core public information under PIA section 552.022(a)(1). Core public information
    cannot be withheld from disclosure unless other law explicitly makes the information confidential.
    See Former Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.022(a). The Parker Group does not urge any other basis for
    withholding it. Accordingly, the district court’s conclusion that the Parker Group was not likely
    to prevail on its claim was not arbitrary or unreasonable and was not made without reference
    to guiding rules and principles. See 
    Butnaru, 84 S.W.3d at 211
    ; 
    Davis, 571 S.W.2d at 862
    ; 
    INEOS, 312 S.W.3d at 848
    .
    We overrule the Parker Group’s first, second, third, and fifth issues.
    Evidentiary rulings
    The Parker Group’s remaining appellate issues challenge the district court’s decision
    to exclude two groups of documents from the evidence submitted at the temporary-injunction
    hearing. The first group consists of a letter from the Lubbock City Attorney, Amy Sims, to the
    arbitrator in the contract dispute regarding the need for documents to complete the Reaves Audit and
    several notices of subpoena from the City to third parties seeking documents related to matters
    at issue in the Reaves Audit. The Parker Group contends that these documents, which were all
    created after March 18, 2011, prove that the Reaves Audit was not “completed.” The second group
    includes Sims’s deposition testimony and an annotated copy of the Reaves Audit in which Sims
    acknowledges, according to the Parker Group, that the Reaves Audit may be protected by the Dallas
    protective order. According to the Parker Group, this second group of excluded documents prove
    that the Dallas protective order bars disclosure of the report.
    13
    Standard of review
    We review a trial court’s decisions regarding the admission of evidence for an
    abuse of discretion. See City of Brownsville v. Alvarado, 
    897 S.W.2d 750
    , 754 (Tex. 1995). The
    test for abuse of discretion is whether the trial court acted without reference to any guiding rules
    or principles. E.I. du Pont de Nemours Co. v. Robinson, 
    923 S.W.2d 549
    , 558 (Tex. 1995). An
    appellant must show that: (1) the trial court erred in not admitting the evidence; (2) the excluded
    evidence was controlling on a material issue dispositive of the case and was not cumulative; and
    (3) the error in the exclusion of the evidence probably caused the rendition of an improper judgment.
    Texas Dep’t of Transp. v. Able, 
    35 S.W.3d 608
    , 617 (Tex. 2000).
    Evidence that the audit was not “completed”
    Assuming without deciding here that the district court erred in excluding the first
    group of documents—i.e., the Sims letter and the subpoena—and even further assuming that these
    excluded documents would have shown that Reaves continued to work on the audit after March 18,
    2011, we would still not reverse the district court’s decision here because the Parker Group has failed
    to show that the error was harmful. See 
    id. First, the
    excluded evidence here is cumulative of other
    evidence in the record. For example, Reaves testified that she had been retained to conduct the same
    audit in the arbitration proceedings. Further, the City stipulated, in response to the Parker Group’s
    efforts to get these documents admitted, that there was an overlap of issues between the Dallas
    litigation and the arbitration proceedings, that the overlap included the subject matter of the Reaves
    Audit, and that there was ongoing discovery in the arbitration proceedings that directly related
    to the issues in the Reaves Audit. Second, even if the excluded evidence had not been cumulative,
    14
    our review of the district court’s decision to deny the Parker Group’s application for temporary
    injunction requires us to review the evidence submitted in the light most favorable to its decision,
    draw all legitimate inferences from the evidence, and to defer to the court’s resolution of conflicting
    evidence. See 
    Davis, 571 S.W.2d at 862
    . As discussed above, there is evidence supporting
    the conclusion that the Reaves Audit was “completed.” Thus, even if the excluded evidence
    conclusively established that the Reaves Audit was used, changed, and expanded in connection with
    the arbitration proceeding, it would not affect our review of the district court’s decision to deny the
    temporary injunction based on its conclusion that the Reaves Audit was “completed.” Accordingly,
    the Parker Group was not harmed by the district court’s exclusion of this evidence. See 
    Able, 35 S.W.3d at 617
    .
    Evidence that the Reaves Audit was subject to the Dallas protective order
    The Parker Group asserts that it was error for the district court to exclude the second
    group of documents—i.e., Sims’s testimony and the annotated Reaves report–—because this
    evidence would have established that the City considered the Reaves Audit confidential and subject
    to the Dallas protective order. But, again assuming that the district court erred in excluding this
    evidence and that it proves what the Parker Group says it proves, we would not reverse the
    district court’s decision here because, as the Parker Group acknowledges, this issue would only be
    of import if the Reaves Audit is not core public information under the PIA. Given that we have
    determined that the district court did not err in concluding that the audit was completed, the Reaves
    Audit is core public information and, as a result, the Parker Group could not be harmed by the
    exclusion of this evidence.
    15
    We overrule the Parker Group’s fourth and sixth issues.
    CONCLUSION
    Having overruled the Parker Group’s issues, we affirm the district court’s order
    denying the Parker Group’s application for temporary injunction and vacate the emergency stay
    previously instituted by this Court.
    __________________________________________
    Bob Pemberton, Justice
    Before Chief Justice Jones, Justices Pemberton and Rose
    Affirmed
    Filed: August 22, 2013
    16