Important Recent Case Law for Texas

Tuesday, November 5, 2013 | 0

NEW! 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. 

NEW! 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.

NEW! 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.

Willoughby v. United States, 12-40915, (09/17/2013): The federal government was entitled to claim exclusivity under the Texas Workers' Compensation Act as a defense to a tort claim by the injured employee of a military contractor, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

Vista Medical Center Hospital v. Texas Mutual Insurance Co., 03-11-00641-CV through 03-11-00643-CV, and 03-11-00742-CV through 03-11-00785-CV, (09/27/2013): A Texas appellate court is standing by its determination that the Texas Department of Insurance's Division of Workers' Compensation has exclusive jurisdiction to resolve disputes between a medical care provider and an insurance carrier about the payment due to the provider for its services to injured workers. 

Austin v. Kroger Texas, 12-10772, (9/27/13): The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas' longstanding abolition of the "no duty" rule continued to apply in lawsuits by employees against nonsubscribing employers.

Seeberger v. BNSF Railway Co., 01-12-00583-CV, (09/26/2013): A Texas appellate court ruled that a railway worker who got a new trial on his Federal Employers' Liability Act claim properly had his second trial limited only to the issue of damages since the insufficiency of the damage award from the first trial was what prompted the retrial.