Justia Texas Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Labor & Employment Law
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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that the Texas Farm Animal Activity Act (the Act), Tex. Civ. Proc. & Rem. Code 87.001-87.005, does not apply to ranchers and ranch hands, holding that the court of appeals did not err.The Act limits liability for injury to "a participant in a farm animal activity or livestock show" that results from an "inherent risk" of those activities. Raul Zuniga worked full-time for Conway and Marlene Waak to work cattle on a ranch, landscape, and cut hay. Zuniga died after being trampled. Plaintiffs, Zuniga's family, sued the Waaks, on wrongful death and survival claims. The trial court granted summary judgment for the Waaks, concluding that the Act barred Plaintiffs' claims. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that Zuniga was not "a participant in a farm animal activity" for whose injuries and death the Act limits liability. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Act does not cover ranchers and ranch hands and, therefore, did not shield the Waaks from liability for their negligence resulting in Zuniga's death. View "Waak v. Rodriguez" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals on Plaintiff's survival action and rendered judgment for Defendant, holding that Plaintiff's claims were barred by the exclusive-remedy provision of the Texas Workers' Compensation Act because her evidence did not raise a fact issue under the intentional-injury exception to the Act's exclusive remedy.Plaintiff's husband, an employee of Defendant, a trucking and warehousing company, died when his rig ran off the highway and rolled over. Plaintiff filed suit, arguing that her husband fell asleep at the wheel due to the fatigue of being overworked. At issue was whether there was any evidence that Defendant believed the accident was substantially certain to result from Plaintiff's being overworked. The trial court granted summary judgment for Defendant. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Plaintiff failed to raise a fact issue on the applicability of the intentional-injury exception to the exclusive-remedy provision of the Act. View "Mo-Vac Service Co., Inc." on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court concluding that a state agency violated the Texas Whistleblower Act, Tex. Gov't Code 554.002, when it fired one of its employees, holding that, under City of Fort Worth v. Zimlich, 29 S.W.3d 62 (Tex. 2000), no evidence demonstrated that the employee's report of a violation of state law more than one year earlier caused the agency to terminate the employee's employment.Laura Rodriguez, a regional manager for child-support services with the Office of the Attorney General, was fired fifteen months after reporting a violation of state law. Rodriguez sued the agency, claiming that it violated the Act because it fired her in retaliation for her protected activity. The trial court concluded that Rodriguez had made a good-faith report of a violation of law that caused the agency to terminate her employment. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the record evidence demonstrated that Rodriguez was fired based on conduct unrelated to her protected activity and that no evidence established that activity was a but-for cause of her termination. View "Office of Attorney General of Texas v. Rodriguez" on Justia Law

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In this labor dispute, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the order of the trial court granting Defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), holding that Defendant did not carry its burden to establish that Plaintiff was its borrowed employee.Plaintiff sued Defendant for negligence after he was injured while working on an offshore drilling rig owned by Defendant. Although Plaintiff was not Defendant's employee, Defendant claimed that workers' compensation benefits were Plaintiff's sole remedy because Plaintiff was acting as its "borrowed employee" under the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA). The jury found that Plaintiff was not Defendant's borrowed employee and awarded damages to Plaintiff. The trial court granted Defendant's JNOV motion, finding that the submission of the borrowed-employee question to the jury was improper and that the evidence supported Defendant's borrowed-employee defense. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the borrowed-employee inquiry can be a fact question for the jury. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court correctly determined that the borrowed-employee inquiry was a legal question for the court, not a fact question for the jury; but (2) Defendant did not establish that Plaintiff was its borrowed employee. View "W&T Offshore, Inc. v. Fredieu" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court granting the City of Madisonville's jurisdictional plea claiming that David Sims' Texas Whistleblower Act claim was time-barred because it was filed after the Act's ninety-day filing deadline, holding that, contrary to the ruling of the court of appeals, the filing deadline was jurisdictional.In reversing the trial court, the court of appeals held that the Act's ninety-day filing deadline was not jurisdictional because a statute of limitations may be raised as an affirmative defense at the summary-judgment stage but not as the basis for a jurisdictional plea. The Supreme Court reversed and dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, holding that because the claim here was against a governmental entity the filing deadline was jurisdictional. View "City of Madisonville v. Sims" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Education upholding the decision of the North East Independent School District board to end Respondent's continuing teaching contract, holding that the record supported the board's and Commissioner's decisions.At issue was whether state and federal laws requiring school districts to record grades and evaluate student progress provide standards of conduct for the teaching provision such that the teacher's failure to comply with district policies implementing those laws supports termination for "good cause." The Commissioner agreed that Respondent's conduct was "good cause per se" for termination. The trial court reversed. The court of appeals affirmed, concluding that "good cause per se" has no basis in Tex. Educ. Code 21.156(a)'s good cause definition. The Supreme Court revered, holding (1) Respondent preserved her complaint for judicial review; (2) the Commissioner erred in employing the "good cause per se" test, which has no basis in the Education Code's plain text; and (3) evidence of a failure to meet a district policy that implements state law supports a good cause determination. View "North East Independent School District v. Riou" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals upholding the trial court's grant of summary judgment without addressing its legal merit, holding that the trial court's recital in its final summary judgment order that it considered "the pleadings, evidence, and arguments of counsel" included a late-filed response and attached evidence.Plaintiff sued Defendant alleging that she had been sexually assaulted at work. Defendant moved for summary judgment, presenting traditional and no evidence grounds. The trial court granted the motion. On remand from the Supreme Court, the court of appeals affirmed, concluding that Plaintiff failed to file a timely response to the no-evidence motion and that the trial court did not consider the late-filed response. The court of appeals declined to consider the evidence that Defendant had attached to its combined motion because no timely response pointed out a fact issue raised by that evidence. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the trial court's recital that it considered the "evidence and arguments of counsel," without limitation, was an "affirmative indication" that the trial court considered Plaintiff's response and the evidence attached to it; and (2) therefore, the court of appeals should have considered that evidence as well in its review of the trial court's summary judgment. View "B.C. v. Stake N Shake Operations, Inc." on Justia Law

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In this workers' compensation case involving the death of a deputy sheriff who died in a vehicular accident while driving his assigned patrol car the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the summary judgment rendered by the trial court for the deputy's widow, holding that, at the time of the accident, the deputy was engaged in law enforcement activity within the course and scope of his employment.In granting summary judgment fort he deputy's widow the trial court concluded that the deputy was in the course and scope of his duties at the time of his death. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that because the accident occurred during the deputy's travel home from an extra-duty assignment with a private employer the deputy was not in the course and scope of his employment. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the deputy was operating the marked patrol car with the county's permission and under its authority at the time of his death; and (2) therefore, summary judgment was properly granted in the widow's favor. View "Orozco v. County of El Paso" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court considered two questions of Texas law certified from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concerning whether changes made by the Texas Legislature in 2017 to Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROP) violate a Texas Constitution provision that prohibits the reduction or impairment of certain accrued retirement benefits, concluding that the 2017 legislative reforms do not violate the Constitution.Certain retirees challenged the 2017 statutory amendments, which eliminated their ability to request lump-sum distributions from their respective DROP accounts. The retirees argued that the funds in DROP are accrued service retirement benefits and that the change to how the funds may be withdrawn reduces or impaired the accrued benefit in violation of Tex. Const. art. XVI, 66(d). The Fifth Circuit certified questions to the Supreme Court, concluding that section 66's application in this case was unsettled under Texas law. The Supreme Court answered that the 2017 amendment does not violate section 66. View "Degan v. Board of Trustees of the Dallas Police" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that a no-evidence motion for summary judgment is not a proper procedural vehicle to defeat jurisdiction on the ground of governmental immunity and that the Texas Open Meetings Act waives governmental immunity with respect to declaratory judgment claims, holding that the court of appeals erred in making both conclusions.Plaintiff sued the Town of Shady Shores alleging, among other things, that she was wrongfully terminated and seeking a declaratory judgment that the termination of her employment violated the Open Meetings Act and the Texas Constitution. The trial court denied the Town's traditional and no-evidence motions for summary judgment. The Town appealed, arguing that Plaintiff had not established a waiver of the Town's governmental immunity. The court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding (1) a no-evidence summary judgment motion may be used to defeat jurisdiction on the basis of governmental immunity; (2) the Open Meetings Act does not waive governmental immunity with respect to declaratory judgment claims; and (3) the Open Meetings Act claims seeking injunctive and mandamus relief were sufficiently pled. View "Town of Shady Shores v. Swanson" on Justia Law