Ineos USA, LLC v. Elmgren

After a burst of gas exploded out of a pipe and caused injury to Johannes Elmgren, a boilermaker for an independent contractor, he and his wife filed suit against Ineos and Jonathan Pavlovsky, an Ineos employee who the Elmgrens alleged was the “furnace maintenance team leader.” The court concluded that Chapter 95 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code applies to all categories of negligence claims, including those based on respondeat superior, but Chapter 95 does not apply to claims against an employee or agent of a property owner; plaintiffs in this case failed to present any evidence to trigger an exception to the protection Chapter 95 provides to Ineos; and thus the court: (1) affirmed the part of the court of appeals’ judgment affirming the trial court’s summary judgment on plaintiffs’ premises-liability claims against Ineos, (2) reversed the part of the court of appeals’ judgment reversing the trial court’s summary judgment on plaintiffs’ negligent-activity and negligent-undertaking claims against Ineos and rendered judgment in favor of Ineos on those claims, and affirmed the part of the court of appeals’ judgment reversing the trial court’s summary judgment on the claims against Pavlovsky and remanding those claims to the trial court. View "Ineos USA, LLC v. Elmgren" on Justia Law