<\/p>\n
Five weeks after Austin Flores\u2019\u00a0family hired attorney Mark Braswell to file a wrongful death suit against H-E-B, the family fired Braswell and hired the Gamez Law Firm.<\/p>\n
Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Jason Massiatte is chief executive and president of the nonprofit Hope at Heart Foundation.<\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n
Austin\u00a0Flores, 27, died four days after being injured in an\u00a0H-E-B workplace accident. His family is suing the company\u00a0for more than $100 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brenda Flores<\/p>\n
Austin Flores’ family hired attorney Mark Braswell to represent them in a wrongful death suit against H-E-B. Soon after, the family “was hit by a barrage, a blitzkrieg of lawyers” intent on taking the case away from him, Braswell said.<\/p>\n
Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Board members of a San Antonio charity have maintained a public silence in the face of allegations that the organization\u2019s top executive used his position to steer legal business<\/a> to a personal injury law firm with extensive ties to the charity.<\/p>\n The allegations involve the\u00a0Hope at Heart Foundation and its<\/a> CEO and president, Jason Massiatte<\/a>. They center on a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Austin Flores, 27, an H-E-B employee who died after a workplace accident in April.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Mark\u00a0Braswell<\/a>, a San Antonio lawyer who initially represented the\u00a0family, has\u00a0accused Massiatte of inserting himself into the potentially lucrative\u00a0case and influencing Flores\u2019 parents to fire Braswell and hire the\u00a0Gamez Law Firm<\/a> to pursue the lawsuit.<\/p>\n The Gamez firm has sponsored Hope at Heart for years, and the charity\u2019s offices are in a building owned by a company connected to the\u00a0Gamez family. Massiatte has appeared\u00a0in a television commercial and in social media posts promoting Hope at Heart and the law firm\u2019s community work.<\/p>\n RELATED: An H-E-B employee died after a workplace accident. Then lawyers began circling.<\/a><\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n At a June 24 court hearing,\u00a0Braswell described recorded conversations in which Flores\u2019 mother, Brenda, said Massiatte encouraged her to switch to the Gamez firm and promised her that he and former San Antonio Mayor\u00a0Juli\u00e1n Castro would publicly support the family if she did.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Braswell told the judge\u00a0Massiatte had engaged in \u201cbarratry disguised as charity.\u201d Barratry refers to deceit, coercion or other unethical conduct in soliciting legal\u00a0clients. It is a crime in Texas and a violation of the State Bar\u2019s rules of professional conduct.<\/p>\n Massiatte, the Gamez firm and Flores\u2019\u00a0parents have denied the allegations. They said the family changed lawyers because they were dissatisfied with Braswell\u2019s representation. Massiatte said he reached out to the Flores family to offer support as they grieved, not from any financial motive.<\/p>\n Silence from board<\/p>\n The San Antonio Express-News, which published a lengthy report on the controversy<\/a> earlier this month, reached out to Hope at Heart\u2019s 12 board members to ask what action if any they intended to take in response to the allegations against\u00a0Massiatte.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Two board members, Trevor Baer<\/a>, a business consultant, and Kurt Robinson<\/a>,\u00a0a construction company owner,\u00a0said they hadn\u2019t seen the article. The remaining 10, including the board chair and co-chair, did not respond to voicemails or to messages sent via email or the professional networking platform LinkedIn.<\/p>\n The Express-News did, however, receive a letter from an attorney representing Hope at Heart and its board. The letter demanded that the paper \u201cimmediately cease and desist from any further contact with the organization, its board members, employees, representatives or affiliated individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHope at Heart respects the role of journalism and the fundamental right to freedom of speech,\u201d wrote\u00a0San Antonio attorney Kristian Knapp<\/a>. \u201cHowever, the nature, frequency and manner of the communications and inquiries being directed toward the organization and those associated with it have become excessive and are now bordering on harassment. This feels like nothing more than an attempt to oust the CEO.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHope at Heart does not wish to provide comment regarding this matter or any related or adjacent matter,\u201d Knapp wrote.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Express-News had placed one phone call each to 10 of the 12 board members and later sent one email or LinkedIn message to all 12.<\/p>\n The charity began in 2017 as Ma Hila\u2019s Heart Children\u2019s Cancer Foundation, with a mission to help children afflicted with the disease. It later expanded to provide grief support and other assistance to families facing hardships.\u00a0Massiatte became chief executive in 2024 after serving as board chairman. The organization changed its name to Hope at Heart last year.<\/p>\n Its board includes such prominent San Antonio figures as\u00a0George B. Hern\u00e1ndez Jr.<\/a>, former CEO of University Health; Daniel Martinez<\/a>, executive director of the American Red Cross of Central & South Texas Region; and\u00a0Marco Barros<\/a>, founder of the River Walk Business Group.<\/p>\n Danielle Smothers<\/a>, part of Generations Federal Credit Union\u2019s management team, is board chair. Cynthia DeLaPe\u00f1a<\/a>, an executive with Community First Health Plan, is co-chair.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The other board members are:\u00a0Veronica Gonzales,<\/a> who works in property management; April Moxley<\/a>, a social worker with a background in grief counseling;\u00a0Ricardo \u201cRicky\u201d Ramirez,<\/a>\u00a0a Marriott sales executive;\u00a0Roxy Rios<\/a>, a human resources professional; and Martha Saenz<\/a>, clinical administrator for\u00a0Conviva Senior Primary Care.<\/p>\n Michael Lyssy<\/a>, an H-E-B human resources manager, served on the board<\/a> until resigning recently.\u00a0His tenure overlapped with\u00a0Massiatte\u2019s involvement with the Flores family. <\/p>\n An\u00a0H-E-B representative said Lyssy stepped down from the board for personal reasons. In a follow-up email, the company said\u00a0Lyssy\u00a0served on the board in a purely personal capacity and that Hope at Heart had never been approved through the company\u2019s process for clearing employees to represent\u00a0H-E-B on nonprofit boards.<\/p>\n Jason Massiatte, CEO and president of the Hope at Heart Foundation, appears in a television commercial for the Gamez Law Firm. He is joined by Natalie Jones Gamez, a spokesperson for the firm.<\/p>\n Court document<\/p>\n ‘Go with us’<\/p>\n Austin Flores was broadsided by a forklift while working at\u00a0H-E-B\u2019s Perishable Distribution Center on the Northeast Side on April 4. He suffered a fractured right ankle and other injuries, according to the family\u2019s lawsuit. He died four days later after collapsing in the bathroom.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n On April 9, his parents retained Braswell. Brenda Flores told the Express-News he was recommended to the family by her son Paul\u2019s boss.\u00a0Braswell\u00a0filed suit against H-E-B on April 17, seeking more than $100 million in damages.<\/p>\n Braswell contends that \u201ccase runners\u201d and other intermediaries soon began lobbying the family to change lawyers\u00a0\u2014 calling, emailing, even visiting their home. He said the attention became so intense that he arranged for security cameras at the\u00a0Flores\u00a0residence. In interviews with the Express-News, Brenda largely corroborated Braswell\u2019s account.<\/p>\n At the June 24 court hearing, Braswell singled out Massiatte as having been especially persistent in trying to persuade the family to switch law firms.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Gamez Law Firm says it did not exploit ties to charity to land legal case against H-E-B<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Braswell presented to the judge a thumb drive of a May 1 phone conversation between Brenda Flores and a paralegal in his office.\u00a0On the recording, Flores can be heard saying that Massiatte visited her home and told her he was there at the request of Castro, a former San Antonio mayor, U.S. secretary of housing and urban development, and Democratic presidential candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was like, \u2018I work closely with\u00a0Juli\u00e1n Castro, and he told me to come out and visit with you and ask you … like, what are your intentions with this whole lawsuit with H-E-B,\u2019 and did I want to change,\u201d Flores said on the recording.<\/p>\n She added that Massiatte encouraged her to \u201cgo with us,\u201d and that when she asked him what he meant by \u201cus,\u201d\u00a0Massiatte replied,\u00a0\u201cThe Gamez Law Firm.\u201d He then told her that if she switched to\u00a0Gamez, \u201cJuli\u00e1n Castro and I will stand beside you in front of the news media.\u201d<\/p>\n Castro told the Express-News he does not know Massiatte and has never referred cases to the Gamez firm.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Massiatte denied ever telling the Flores family that Castro had sent him or that the former mayor would appear with them in public. Massiatte\u00a0said he had never heard the terms \u201cbarratry\u201d or \u201ccase runner\u201d until Braswell accused him of acting as one. He said he approached the Flores family after Austin\u2019s death to offer support, provide flowers for the funeral and arrange for a memorial star honoring Austin.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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