The Supreme Court held that a gold-coin dealer sustained its loss consequent upon handing over its coins against fraudulent checks and that the shipper's alleged negligence in rerouting the shipment was not an independent cause of the loss.The dealer in this case purchased insurance to cover its shipments against physical loss, and the policy excluded losses "consequent upon" the dealer's handing over its coins to another against fraudulent checks. A thief had paid the dealer for two shipments of coins using fraudulent checks, and after the checks cleared, the dealer shipped the coins to the thief. Using the tracking information accompanying the shipment, the thief convinced the shipper to reroute the coins from their initial destination to a pickup facility. The dealer made claims under its policy with its insurer, seeking to recover the value of the coins. The insurer denied almost all requested coverage. The Supreme Court answered certified questions of law and held (1) a loss sustained "consequent upon" an event connotes but-for causation under the policy's exclusion of coverage for property handed over to a third party against a fraudulent check; and (2) the third-party shipper's alleged negligence was a concurrent cause of the loss, dependent upon handing over the property against the fraudulent checks. View "Dillon Gage Inc. of Dallas v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court held that Corpus Christi pharmacist John McNeill, who participated in a Medicaid drug program run by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, was entitled to an administrative contested case hearing as to his challenge to the results of a program audit by the Commission.After the Commission audited McNeill, the auditor determined that McNeill had been overpaid by $69,911. McNeill requested a hearing, after which the Commission issued a final notice that reduced the overpayment amount to $64,549. McNeill thrice requested a contested case hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The Commission denied each request. McNeill sued the Commission, its commissioner, and its inspector general, seeking a declaration that he was entitled to a contested case hearing. The trial court granted the Commission's plea to the jurisdiction based on sovereign immunity and dismissed the complaint. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) McNeill's appeal was timely; and (2) the Commission's inspector general acted ultra vires in failing to perform her ministerial duty to provide McNeill a contested-case hearing under Tex. Gov't Code 531.1201, and the inspector general was not entitled to sovereign immunity. View "Phillips v. McNeill" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's judgment entered upon a jury verdict awarding future damages of $50,000 for breach of a terminable-at-will rental contract, holding that no evidence supported the amount awarded by the jury.The jury in this case found that Pura-Flo breached its indefinite agreement to make monthly rental payments to Donald Clanton and failed to find that Pura-Flo had terminated the contract. The jury awarded $19,500 in past losses and future damages of $50,000. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that both the fact and amount of future damages lacked reasonable certainty. View "Pura-Flo Corp. v. Clanton" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief and ordered the trial court to vacate its order denying ExxonMobil's discovery requests, holding that the trial court abused its discretion in that ExxonMobil lacked an adequate remedy on appeal.Nearly sixty plaintiffs sued ExxonMobil seeking millions of dollars in reimbursement for past medical expenses arising from a fire and explosion at ExxonMobil's Baytown Olefins Plant. During discover, ExxonMobil sought discovery of the services Plaintiffs received from certain medical providers. The trial court denied ExxonMobil's ensuing motion to enforce its requested discovery and granted Plaintiffs' motions for protection. ExxonMobil subsequently sought mandamus relief. The Supreme Court granted the requested relief, holding that because the trial court abused its discretion by denying ExxonMobil's discovery requests and ExxonMobil had no appellate remedy, ExxonMobil was entitled to mandamus relief. View "In re Exxon Mobil Corp." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted Relator American Airlines, Inc.'s petition for a writ of mandamus seeking relief from an order compelling the oral deposition of a high-level corporation official, holding that Relator was entitled to relief.The real party in interest in this case, Dr. Donald Arnette, sued American, alleging that one of its gate agents had improperly accessed his personal information and used it to harass him. Arnette served American with a series of deposition notices for Elise Eberwein, one of the six officers on American's executive leadership team. After a hearing, the trial court issued an order requiring Arnette to serve a new deposition notice. When eight months had passed without service of the required deposition notice American filed a petition for writ of mandamus seeking relief from the trial court's order. The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief and directed the trial court to vacate the order compelling Eberwein's deposition, holding that the trial court abused its discretion in compelling Eberwein's testimony. View "In re American Airlines, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted Relator's mandamus petition seeking relief from an order of the trial court compelling Relator to produce a certain witness for oral deposition, holding that the trial court abused its discretion.Jay Adashera, an employee of a wholesale granite purveyor, died when two 400-pound granite slabs fell off a contractor's truck at his workplace. His survivors sued the granite company and the truck owners, Lazaro Cabrera, for negligence and wrongful death. The survivors obtained a default judgment against Cabrera and then added claims against Texan Millwork, Inc., the company who had hired Cabrera to fabricate the slabs into countertops. At issue was whether Cabrera was an independent contractor and not an employee of Texan Millwork at the time of the accident. To secure Cabrera's testimony, the survivors filed a motion to compel Texan Millwork to produce Cabrera, "its agent and/or employee" for deposition. The trial court granted the motion to compel, and the court of appeals granted Texan Millwork's petition for mandamus relief. The Supreme Court conditionally granted the petition, holding that because there was no evidence of retention, employment, or control at the time discovery was sought, the trial court erred in compelling Texan Millwork to produce Cabrera for an oral deposition. View "In re Texan Millwork" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of the Pemberton Park Community Association (Association) on its complaint against Li for violations of several restrictive covenants found in the "Declaration of Covenants, Restrictions and Easements for Pemberton Park" (the Covenants) holding that the court of appeals erred.On appeal, Appellant argued that the court of appeals erred in concluding that Appellant failed to preserve for appeal her argument that the Association's enforcement of the Covenants was "arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory," in violation of Tex. Prop. Code 202.004(a). The Supreme Court agreed and reversed, holding that Appellant preserved her argument for appeal. View "Li v. Pemberton Park Community Ass'n" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals dismissing the appeal in this bill-of-review proceeding for want of jurisdiction, holding that the court of appeals erred in ruling that the trial court's order dismissing the bill-of-review petition was interlocutory.The court of appeals held that the trial court order dismissing the bill-of-review petition was not final because the trial court failed to include decree-like language adjudicating and disposing of the petition. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the order was final where it (1) disposed of all claims and parties; (2) stated that it was a "final order"; and (3) declared that the legal effect of granting the motions to dismiss was the dismissal of the bill of review filed in the instant case. View "In re Guardianship of Jones" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment for Defendants in this trespass-to-try-title suit between the lessees of adjacent mineral estates, holding that the court of appeals erred.In its complaint, Plaintiff claimed that Defendants drilled wells either on Plaintiff's leasehold or closer to the lease line than allowed by Railroad Commission rules. Defendants argued in response that Plaintiff ratified an agreed boundary line, foreclosing Plaintiff's trespass claims. The trial court granted summary judgment for Defendants. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that a boundary stipulation between the fee owners of the two mineral estates, which Plaintiff accepted, was void and could not be ratified. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the boundary stipulation was valid and that Defendants conclusively established their ratification defense. View "Concho Resources, Inc. v. Ellison" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief and directed the Austin City Council to revise the ballot language for a proposed ordinance that would establish minimum standards for the Austin Police Department "to enhance public safety and police oversight, transparency, and accountability," holding that Relator was entitled to relief, in part.The City Council chose to place the proposed ordinance before the voters for approval at the next general election. Rather than use the caption set for in the petition as the ballot language, the City Council approved its own description of the ordinance to be used and the ballot using language that differed materially from the caption in the petition. Relator brought this proceeding challenging the chosen ballot language. The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief, holding (1) the City correctly determined that the caption's omission of the ordinance's financial impact violated state law, requiring modification; but (2) the Austin City Charter forbade the remainder of the City's revisions to the petitioned caption. View "In re Petricek" on Justia Law