The Texas Speaker of the House is facing a lawsuit from a North Texas business owner, accusing him of using the power of the speaker’s office to get a refund for a canceled fishing trip.

Fellow lawmakers complain of Craddick’s strong-arm tactics in the political arena.  Now the accusation is coming from a private citizen.

The suit, filed by Patrick Marsteller of Amazon Tours, Inc., says Craddick and Austin lobbyist Bill Messer paid the company for a fishing trip that was rescheduled.  When high water on the Amazon made fishing conditions difficult, the company says it offered to reschedule the trip as a courtesy.

The suit goes on to say that many months later, Craddick and Messer refused to go on the trip and demanded a refund.  Amazon Tours said contract terms wouldn’t allow a refund.

Craddick and Messer then sent a letter threatening embarrassment to the travel agent’s reputation.

“There are clearly exceptional circumstances, and therefore we demand a full refund to be made to each of us in order to avoid legal action or embarrassment to your reputation,” wrote Craddick and Messer.

“The speaker, I guess, he felt the power given to him by the Speaker of the House (position) gave him the right to do this,” said Marsteller.

The suit comes as former allies in the House talk of a move to unseat the sitting speaker before the legislative session ends next Monday.

KVUE

“This is the (modus operandi) of the speaker, a speaker who’d rather be feared than respected,” said State Representative Garnet Coleman, D-Houston.

Craddick’s spokeswoman declined to comment after seeing the lawsuit and letter.  Craddick himself was not available for comment Wednesday night.