Important Recent Texas Case Law

Monday, March 26, 2012 | 0

NEW! In re New Hampshire Insurance Company, 14-12-00174-CV, (03/22/2012): A Texas trial court did not abuse its discretion by taking jurisdiction over an injured airline employee's bad-faith claim against the insurance carrier and others involved in the administrative proceedings regarding her workers' compensation claim, a state appellate court ruled.

NEW! Johnston v. Oiltanking Houston, L.P., 14-11-00537-CV, (03/22/2012): The owner of a Houston oil storage facility did not retain sufficient control over the operations of the independent contractor hired to perform on-site maintenance work to be liable to its injured employee, ruled the Texas 14th District Court of Appeals

NEW! SORM v. Joiner, 06-11-00076-CV, (03/21/2012): A physician's report stating the wrong date of maximum medical improvement could be taken into evidence and relied upon for determining an injured worker's disability rating.

NEW! Hazelip v. American Casualty Co. of Reading, Pa., 01-09-00659-CV, (03/15/12): A Texas woman, who represented herself in challenging a denial of benefits for treatment to her back, failed to prove her allegations of error at trial regarding the admissibility of evidence, propriety of certain lines of questioning, or adequacy of the jury instructions, an appellate court ruled.

NEW! Traxler v. Entergy Gulf States, Inc., 10-0970, (03/09/2012): A utility company can be held liable in tort to a moving company employee struck by a power line while riding on top of a house being transported down a residential street.

NEW! Morris v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 05-10-01125-CV, (03/07/12): An injured worker who failed to introduce her medical records into evidence during trial failed to prove reversible error by the trial court in disallowing the jury from considering these documents during deliberations, a Texas appellate court ruled.

Garcia v. Azz Inc., 01-11-00668-CV, (02/23/2012): An employer's failure to tell a worker that it had workers' compensation coverage did not preclude it from using an exclusive remedy defense, ruled the Court of Appeals of Texas, 1st District, Houston.

Texas Mutual Ins. Co. v. Ruttiger, 08-0751, (08/26/2011): The Texas Supreme Court announced on Friday that it has granted a rehearing on its decision holding that a workers' compensation claimant could not assert a "bad-faith" cause of action against an insurance carrier for unfair settlement practices under the Texas Insurance Code.

Nowak Construction Co., Inc. v. Avalos, 08-10-00261-CV, (02/15/2012): A general contractor's use of an improper trench safety system will cost it $4.3 million, ruled the Court of Appeals of Texas, Eighth District, El Paso.

Continental Casualty Co. v. American Safety Casualty Ins. Co., 14-10-01128-CV, (02/16/2012): A subcontractor's insurer did not have a duty to indemnify a general contractor against a worker's civil suit.