UNANIMOUS TEXAS APPEALS COURT RULES WHITESTONE REIT DID NOT SHOW CAUSE FOR TERMINATING FORMER CEO JAMES MASTANDREA
Mastandrea Vindicated by Unanimous 14th Court of Appeals Ruling, according Andy Taylor & Associates, PC
HOUSTON, July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A three-judge panel on Texas' 14th Court of Appeals unanimously ruled last week that Whitestone REIT had failed to show proper cause for terminating its former CEO, James Mastandrea, in 2022. Mastandrea had served as CEO of Whitestone since 2006.
Justice Tonya McLaughlin concluded that Whitestone failed to show that Mastandrea violated the terms of his employment contract and that, furthermore, the REIT did not connect its reasons for terminating Mastandrea to the language in Mastandrea's employment agreement.
Mastandrea contended that several Whitestone board members, including his former wife, had personal vendettas against him. Their wrongful actions stripped him of his dual titles of Chairman and CEO, and, his position at Whitestone. Although the Trial Court sided with Whitestone, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case back to the Trial Court for a jury trial.
Justices Kevin Jewell and Maritza Antu also served with Justice McLaughlin on the panel upholding Mastandrea's appeal.
"I appreciate the unanimous ruling of the Court and believe it clearly proves what me and my legal team have contended all along," Mastandrea said. "Whitestone did not have cause for my termination. This ruling paves the way for me to ask a jury for monetary damages arising from my termination."
Mastandrea joined Whitestone in 2006 when it was a small, non-traded mixed-use REIT. He developed its community-centered business model, acquired high-quality properties in Texas and Arizona, and led the company's billion dollar growth after listing on the NYSE in 2010.
In the fifteen years after Mastandrea became Whitestone's CEO, he developed it into a strategic REIT with a high-quality real-estate portfolio with assets that grew by more than 500% to over $1.1 billion, and quarterly net income that grew by almost 400% to $2.9 million.
Following the launch of a proxy campaign in December of 2025, the purpose of which was to reshape the future board in 2026, the REIT was acquired and taken private in a $1.7 billion transaction.
Mastandrea is represented by Mike O'Brien of Mike O'Brien PC, James C. Marrow of Wright Close Barger & Guzman LLP and Andy Taylor of Andy Taylor & Associates, PC. The docket number is 14-24-00924.
The case now goes back to Harris County Civil District Court.
SOURCE Andy Taylor & Associates, PC
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