East DFW News

The man who sued McKinney Mayor George Fuller on the grounds his shelter-in-place order stemming from the coronavirus crisis was “too strict” has dropped his legal action and is vowing to work with the mayor “on solutions that can keep people safe while also putting people back to work in a safe manner.”

In a recent statement, real estate agent Derek Baker said as an "essential" business, he no longer has standing to file suit, adding "rather than continue my suit we’re going to work together to collaborate on solutions.”

Fuller, who recently revealed his 19-year-old daughter has tested positive for the virus, had vowed to fight on and impose yet another order that was stricter than the shelter in place declaration imposed by the county if his first one had been overturned by the Collin County district judge hearing the case.

Baker’s suit argued that Fuller’s order had no legal standing because it solely determined what businesses were considered essential or not, unfairly impacting the livelihoods of countless residents.

“I am literally fighting for thousands of people that the mayor fired,” Baker told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I know he did not do it maliciously, but he chose winner or loser by saying who’s essential."

Throughout the standoff, Fuller took the position that he did what he felt he had to in protecting the people of McKinney.

“I am going to follow science and data and those are the things that influence my inner compass,” he said. “I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m trying to do what I absolutely believe in.”

Fuller has the support of medical professionals such as Dallas County Medical Society president Dr. Mark Casanova, who has maintained that shelter-in-place orders are essential to flattening the curve of the virus.

In the end, Fuller said he thinks President Donald Trump’s evolving position on the issue has had a major impact on his order being able to stay in place in McKinney.

The president recently announced nationwide social distancing guidelines will remain in place at least through the month of April, as he warned fatalities could top 2.2 million if the country “did nothing” and that 100,000 people could die even in a best-case scenario.