Texas Case Law Update

Tuesday, January 20, 2015 | 0

NEW! Texas Department of Insurance v. Mensch, 04-14-00449-CV, (01/14/2015): The 4th District Court of Appeals said that a worker could not get a court order compelling the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation to review a carrier's denial of preauthorization for dental work related to his 1980 injury.

NEW! Campos v. Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, 08-13-00289-CV, (12/30/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that a worker's failure to challenge all of the arguments that his employer's carrier had raised in moving for summary judgment as to his impairment rating meant the summary judgment had to be affirmed.

NEW! Phillips v. SACHEM, 03-13-00346-CV, (12/31/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that an employer who fired an injured employee one day after his doctor indicated that he'd need to be off work longer than originally anticipated wasn't entitled to summary judgment on the worker's retaliatory discharge claim.

NEW! Bigby v. Stephens, 13-70020, (12/18/2014): A federal appellate court will not allow a death-row inmate who killed four people he suspected of conspiring to defeat his comp claim to continue his pursuit of habeas corpus relief.

NEW! VanderWerff v. Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, 03-12-00711-CV, (12/2014): A Texas chiropractor lost his appeal of a $1,500 sanction imposed against him by the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners for his "grossly unprofessional conduct," despite a finding by an administrative law judge that he had done nothing wrong.

NEW! Irika Shipping v. Henderson, 09-13-00237-CV, (12/18/2014): A Texas appellate court overturned a $1.7 million verdict to an injured longshoreman based on an error in the instructions issued to the jury.

NEW! Morales v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut, 01-14-00429-CV, (12/18/2014): The 1st District Court of Appeal of Texas ruled that a worker was time-barred from seeking review of an adverse administrative decision on his request to expand the scope of his claim for a back injury more than four years after that decision was made.

NEW! Employees Retirement System of Texas v. Garcia, 03-12-00659-CV, (12/18/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that a state employee's entitlement to occupational disability retirement benefits based on an accident for which she was wholly or partially responsible for bringing about, will depend on the facts of each individual case, but the Employees Retirement System of Texas did not act unreasonably in denying a claim by a corrections officer who had fallen through an open trap door in the guard tower where she was working.

NEW! Rosa v. Mestena Operating, 04-14-00097-CV, (12/17/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that the owner of a mineral lease could not be held liable to a worker who was allegedly injured by a malfunctioning piece of equipment that had been left on the property.

NEW! Layton v. City of Fort Worth, 02-14-00084-CV, (12/11/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that an injured municipal employee could not seek judicial review of an administrative decision to terminate his disability benefits.

NEW! Readyone Industries v. Flores, 08-13-00161-CV, and Readyone Industries v. Carreon, 08-13-00150-CV, (12/10/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that a non-subscribing employer should have been allowed to compel two of its workers to arbitrate their claims for their alleged on-the-job injuries.

NEW! Vause v. Liberty Insurance Corp., 04-13-00614-CV, (11/26/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that an injured worker could not prevail on her bad-faith claim against her employer's insurance carrier based on its denial of her request for treatment and benefits, as a matter of law.

NEW! Elwess v. Farm Bureau County Mutual Insurance Co., 11-12-00339-CV, (11/26/2014): A Texas appellate court revived a motorist's claims against his auto insurance carrier for damages from a work-related car accident with an underinsured driver.

NEW! Garay v. G. R. Birdwell Construction, 01-13-01088-CV, (11/25/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that the family of a worker who was fatally crushed by a trench compactor failed to establish any gross negligence by the worker's employer, as a matter of law.

NEW! In re Essex Insurance Company, 13-1006, (11/21/2014): A worker who lost his hand operating a tortilla machine for an employer not covered by the workers’ compensation system can’t sue his employer’s insurer directly, because it hasn’t been established that he was covered under the employer’s liability policy, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.

NEW! Helix Energy Solutions Group v. Howard, 14-14-00442-CV, (11/13/2014): A Texas appellate court ruled that an injured seaman could not get a pretrial order to compel his employer to provide him with maintenance and cure.

NEW! Texas Department of Insurance v. Jones, 05-13-01353-CV, (11/06/2014): A Texas appellate court rejected an effort by the state Department of Insurance to prevent the parties to a workers' compensation case from settling the worker's claim for supplemental income benefits after the department ruled she hadn't been entitled to such benefits.