Important Recent Case Law for Texas

Thursday, September 26, 2013 | 0

NEW! Borden v. Smith County, 12-12-00284-CV, (09/18/2013) The 12th District Court of Appeals joined its sister circuits in El Paso, Corpus Christi, Dallas and Austin in finding that the State Application Act waives sovereign immunity for anti-retaliation claims against political subdivisions.

NEW! Zimmerman v. Farias, 14-12-00531-CV, (09/12/2013): A dental hygienist who allegedly tripped and fell at work failed to present sufficient evidence to support a premises liability claim against her employer to justify holding her employer liable as an individual, a Texas appellate court ruled.

Clary v. ExxonMobil Corp., 09-12-00060-CV, (09/05/2013): A Texas appellate court ruled that a worker hired to perform electrical repairs at a chemical plant that had been damaged by Hurricane Ike could not prove that the property owner had actual knowledge that there was a door with a loose pane of glass on the premises before the glass from the door fell on him and injured him.

Dallas National Insurance Co. v. De La Cruz, 08-12-00189-CV, (08/28/2013): A Texas appellate court ruled that a cook who injured her back in a fall at work was entitled to Lifetime Income Benefits based on her loss of use of both of her feet after she developed radiculopathy, which caused her to lose the use of her feet to the point that she could no longer work.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Adcock, 11-0934, (08/30/2013): A divided Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the state Division of Workers' Compensation could not revive the statutory procedure for re-opening determinations of eligibility for permanent lifetime income benefits under the guise of "agency deference." 

Texas Mutual Insurance Co. v. Clarence Dailey Electric, 04-12-00506-CV, (08/30/2013): A Texas appellate court ruled that an electrical subcontractor on a construction project was entitled to summary judgment in its favor on a negligence claim by the employee of another subcontractor who suffered injuries after he took the electrical subcontractor's scissor lift and used it without the owner's knowledge and permission. 

Elizondo v. Krist et al., 11-0438, (08/30/2013): The Texas Supreme Court, in a split decision, ruled that an injured worker could not sue his former attorneys for malpractice based on the alleged inadequacy of the settlement the attorneys had obtained as compensation for his injuries from a March 2005 explosion at a BP Amoco Chemical Co. refinery.

Allen v. Union Standard Insurance Co., 11-12-00233-CV, (08/30/2013): A Texas appellate court ruled that an injured worker's failed attempt to sue his former employer's insurance carrier for its alleged bad faith failure to pay the medical benefits due to him under a 1985 award he had received did not bar him from bringing a later action to enforce the 1985 award.

National American Insurance Co. v. Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, 03-09-00680-CV, (08/28/2013): The 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled that the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association did not have to reimburse an insurance carrier for the more than $1 million in benefits the carrier paid to two injured workers while the case was in litigation, even though the Guaranty Association was ultimately adjudged to be liable.

SORM v. Elaine Joiner, 12-0356, (08/23/13): The Texas Supreme Court denied the State Office of Risk Management's appeal of a decision that allowed a hearing officer to consider an impairment rating that did not comply with Division of Workers' Compensation rules.