Magnolia mayor behaved inappropriately leading up to alleged assault of pregnant employee: Lawsuit

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Magnolia Mayor Matthew "Doc" Dantzer was officially charged with assault of a pregnant person and official oppression after being arrested, the Tarrant County District Attorney said.

Eyewitness News reported on Dantzer's arrest on Tuesday, but his charges were made official on Wednesday by Fort Worth-area officials.

Dantzer was originally held in the Montgomery County jail before being transferred to the Tarrant County jail.

The story was brought to light when Bryan Emery spoke to Eyewitness News at the end of March on behalf of his fiancée, Christian Gable, the Magnolia City secretary.

ORIGINAL REPORT: Texas Rangers investigating allegations of assault against Magnolia mayor

In addition to the charges, Eyewitness News obtained Gable's lawsuit against Dantzer and the City of Magnolia.

The document filed on April 8 reveals the alleged unwanted sexual comments Dantzer made to Gable, which eventually led to the alleged assault.

Lawsuit states unprofessional behavior escalated upon Gable's hiring

The lawsuit states Gable began working for the city's government in 2021 after Dantzer, her neighbor, offered her a job.

In the lawsuit, Gable claimed her family was long-time neighbors and friends of the mayor, adding that he occasionally made inappropriate sexual jokes and comments to her in the past, but that when she began working under him, Dantzer's unprofessional behavior "quickly escalated."

The lawsuit states that Gable would frequently take her lunch at home, and when Dantzer caught on to her routine, he began showing up uninvited at her home. Gable said she had to change her lunch habits to avoid Dantzer.

The lawsuit also alleges that throughout her years working for the city, Gable was promoted twice, eventually becoming the city secretary. It was in that role that she said Dantzer's unprofessional jokes continued, adding that he would often introduce her to city hall guests as "the City Sexetary" or as "my Sexetary."

Gable claimed she felt that because he was her superior, she had to endure Dantzer's harassment in order to keep her job.

Alleged assault in Fort Worth

The continued verbal harassment from Dantzer led up to him assaulting her while they were in Fort Worth for the Texas Municipal League's Annual Conference in October 2025, according to the lawsuit.

Gable, who was five months pregnant at the time, claimed Dantzer walked her to her hotel room after dinner. The lawsuit alleges that Dantzer attempted to pull down her pants as they were walking down the street and that he continued to make sexual remarks.

In the lawsuit, Gable claims she initially yelled out but played it off as a joke out of fear of losing her job. Gable then claims that outside the hotel, Dantzer allegedly asked her if her boyfriend "knows how to handle" her because she is "crazy." The lawsuit alleges that Dantzer then grabbed her throat, pinned her against a column, and said, "You need to tell him to do it like this."

According to an indictment out of Tarrant County obtained by Eyewitness News, Dantzer's alleged actions were described as placing the palm of his hand around Gable's neck and pushing her against a wall while knowing she was pregnant. It also states that Dantzer grabbed her by the throat and pushed her up against a wall.

Gable claims she yelled at him, pushed him off, and went back to her hotel room, where she later received a text from Dantzer apologizing.

Gable claims she faced retaliation, delivers baby prematurely

After the alleged assault, Gable said the city's HR manager, Kristy Powell, reported it in writing, and Gable reported it to law enforcement. The lawsuit states that it was when that the city began a third-party investigation.

The lawsuit states that after reporting the incident, Powell said several city employees who had a close relationship with Dantzer made her work environment intolerable, and she felt compelled to quit.

Dantzer was still working in close proximity to Gable and was not placed on leave during the investigation, according to the document, causing her to feel dread and anxiety. She added that in January 2026, Dantzer's harassment continued, and she began losing sleep and became crippled with anxiety, all while being pregnant.

The lawsuit says that even though the City of Magnolia concluded the investigation into the incident, Gable was not informed until two weeks later. Gable added that the third-party investigator, Bill Helfand of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, told her the results were inconclusive and that her claims were unsubstantiated.

Gable alleges that Helfand told her the investigation consisted of only a handful of employee interviews, even though he knew no other city employees personally witnessed the incident, and that he did not attempt to obtain any security camera footage that could have captured the alleged assault.

Several days after the meeting with Helfand, Gable claims she began to experience high blood pressure and was induced into labor two weeks earlier than her original due date.

The lawsuit states that after taking her maternity leave, Gable asked the mayor pro tem, City Council member Jack Huitt, if she could work remotely until at least May 2, when Dantzer was expected to be officially replaced as mayor after an election.

The lawsuit states that even though Gable expressed her fear of returning to the city hall while Dantzer still had access to the building, Huitt denied her request.

Huitt and Helfand both stated that because Gable's sexual assault complaint was unsubstantiated, she was required to return to in-person work, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that Gable is suing the city and Dantzer for a number of claims, including retaliation, violation of the First and Fourteenth amendments, infliction of bodily injury, assault, and damages.

Powell files separate lawsuit, alleges discrimination and retaliation

On March 17, Kristy Powell, the city's Human Resources director, filed a lawsuit related to Dantzer's assault as well.

Powell claims that Dantzer exhibited clear favoritism for male employees while discriminating against female employees.

According to the lawsuit, after she fired the city's field supervisor and public works director as a result of separate reports of discrimination, harassment, insubordination, and incompetency, Powell said she faced ostracization, name-calling, and other harassing behavior from Dantzer and other people with a close relationship with him. Powell added that the two people she fired were close male friends of Dantzer, according to the lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, Powell claims that after she formally reported Gable's alleged assault, she experienced increased harassment and retaliatory behavior by employees close to Dantzer. She also claims that she later learned from another employee that Dantzer allegedly explicitly stated he was "going after" her and Gable and wanted to terminate their employment.

Powell claims the working conditions that she experienced became so intolerable that she felt compelled to resign. The lawsuit states that, even though she submitted her resignation effective Dec. 31, 2025, she was fired several days after delivering it to the city administrator.

Powell claims that after handing in her resignation letter, she experienced the worst of the harassment from fellow employees and Dantzer, and that her firing came less than a month after Gable's alleged assault.

According to the lawsuit, Powell is suing for First Amendment violations, retaliation, and damages, among other claims.

Dantzer maintains his innocence

In a previous statement to Eyewitness News, Dantzer's attorney sent the following statement:

We, on behalf of Matthew Dantzer, categorically deny the allegations. Mr. Dantzer maintains his innocence and looks forward to the opportunity to defend himself in the appropriate legal process. Mr. Dantzer remains dedicated to faithfully serving the citizens of the City of Magnolia. We respectfully ask for privacy and patience as this matter proceeds. No further comments will be made at this time out of respect for the ongoing investigation and all parties involved.

Eyewitness News has reached out to the City of Magnolia for comment on the allegations in both lawsuits.