Important Recent Case Law for Texas

Wednesday, November 27, 2013 | 0

NEW! Hedgepeth v. Diamond Offshore Drilling, 01-12-01156-CV, (11/19/2013): A Texas appellate court upheld a jury's award of $280,082 in damages to the family of a maritime worker who died of a bacterial infection, explaining that the jury had discretion to make the drastic downward departure that it had from the values that economists had placed on the worker's life.

NEW! Pilot Travel Centers v. McCray, 05-13-00002-CV, (11/05/2013): A Texas appellate court ruled that the family of a truck stop employee who suffered injuries after just one week on the job were bound by the employee's consent to arbitrate any disputes with his employer, and the employer's belated appeal of the denial of its motion to compel arbitration could be deemed timely because the employer hadn't received notice of the judge's initial ruling.

NEW! Long v. Elliott, 11-11-00307-CV, (10/31/2013): The 11th District Court of Appeal upheld a trial judge's distribution of a $4 million settlement for the on-the-job death of a mother of three.

NEW! Poplin v. Amerisure Insurance Co., 01-13-00102-CV, (10/31/2013): The widow of an air-conditioning worker who died of a heart attack failed to provide sufficient evidence of a causal connection between his work and his death to withstand summary judgment, the 1st District Court of Appeals ruled. 

Hopper v. Argonaut Insurance Co., 03-12-00734-CV, (10/18/2013): A Texas appellate court ruled that the family of an injured worker who died of a drug overdose could not bring common-law claims for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unconscionability and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing – nor any statutory claims under the Insurance Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act – against the comp carrier which had disputed their entitlement to death benefits. 

King Fisher Marine Service v. Tamez, 13-10-00425-CV, (05/31/2012): The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could provide more clarification on the applicability of a doctrine that allows injured maritime workers to avoid having their Jones Act awards reduced by their own negligence.

Vargas v. La Regiomontana Meat Co., 01-12-00126-CV, (10/10/2013): A Texas appellate court ruled that a trial judge had to hold a hearing on an injured worker's motion to reinstate her case against her employer after her case was dismissed based on her failure to prosecute.

Givens v. All Pro Courts, 01-12-00874-CV, (10/08/2013): A Texas appellate court reinstated a jury's verdict finding a company had been negligent in allowing its sales representative and office manager to unload a heavy pole from an elevated truck trailer without assistance.

BPU Management v. OWCP, 12-60289, (10/08/2013): A dockworker who suffered an injury while cleaning the underground tunnel through which conveyor belts moved bauxite ore that had been offloaded from ships in the adjoining navigable waterway was not covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, a federal appellate court ruled.

Tillman v. Memorial Hermann Hospital System, 14-12-01169-CV, (10/01/2013): The Texas 14th District Court of Appeals ruled that a claim by a hospital employee against her non-subscribing employer for damages based on a workplace injury caused by the alleged negligence of a coworker was a "health care liability claim" subject to the Medical Liability Act.