Acevedo v. Droemer

791 S.W.2d 668, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 1771, 1990 WL 100013

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 29, 1990
• Docket: 04-89-00533-CV
• Status: Published

Opinions

OPINION

CHAPA, Justice.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment granted in favor of the appel-lees/movants in a personal injury suit arising from a job site accident. Appellant, Antonio Acevedo, Sr., was employed by the appellees, William Droemer, individually and d/b/a William Droemer, Contractor, a/k/a William Droemer Construction Company. Acevedo was injured on the job in a scaffolding accident.

Acevedo’s co-worker on the scaffolding, Roberto Escobedo Salas, Sr., was fatally injured in the construction accident. His surviving wife and children filed suit against the appellees and others. Acevedo and his family were also named as plaintiffs in the same original petition. Plaintiffs’ First Amended Petition was based on causes of action for negligence and gross negligence, and made no allegations about intentional tort.

The appellee/movants then moved for summary judgment against the Acevedo appellants. After the motion for summary judgment was filed and before it was granted, the appellants filed a motion seeking leave to amend their pleadings to include a cause of action against the employer under an intentional act theory. The trial court granted leave to amend and the appellants filed their Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Original Petition, wherein they alleged for the first time that the conduct of the appellees “rises to the level of an intentional injury and therefore the Acevedo Plaintiffs sue for such conduct.” No amendments were filed by the appellees to their motion for summary judgment, the trial court granted summary judgment against the Acevedos, dismissing all their causes of action, and the court severed the Acevedos’ causes for purposes of appeal.

The issue on appeal in a summary judgment case is whether the movant met his burden for summary judgment, by establishing that there exists no genuine issue of material fact and that he is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Authority, 589 S.W.2d 671, 678 (Tex.1979); TEX.R.CIV. P. 166a(c). The party moving for summary judgment has the burden of showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548 (Tex.1985); TEX.R.CIV. P. 166a(c). In deciding whether a disputed material fact issue precludes summary judgment, the reviewing court will take as true all evidence favoring the nonmovant. Id. at 549. Every reasonable inference from the evidence will be indulged in favor of the nonmovant, and any doubt will be resolved in his favor. Id.

In reviewing summary judgment evidence, it is well established that sworn pleadings and denials to requests for admissions are not summary judgment evidence in Texas. Americana Motel, Inc. v. Johnson, 610 S.W.2d 143 (Tex.1980). As such, a motion for summary judgment is a pleading and may not be considered as summary judgment evidence, Kendall v. Whataburger, Inc., 759 S.W.2d 751, 754 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1988, no writ), nor is a response to summary judgment competent summary judgment evidence. Rhobes v. Interfirst Bank Fort Worth, N.A., 719 S.W.2d 263, 264 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1986, no writ). However, affidavits, depositions, interrogatories, and admissions are proper summary judgment evidence when referred to or incorporated in the motion for summary judgment, Stewart v. U.S. Leasing Corp., 702 S.W.2d 288, 290 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1985, no writ), citing First Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n v. Bustamante, 609 S.W.2d 845, 849 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1980, no writ), but the trial court may not receive extrinsic evidence, either oral or documentary, at the hearing on the motion for summary judgment. State v. Easley, 404 S.W.2d 296, 297 (Tex.1966); Citizens State Bank of Dickinson v. Shapiro, 575 S.W.2d 375 (Tex.App.—Tyler 1978, writ ref’d n.r.e.). Statements contained in a brief also do not constitute summary judgment proof. Nationwide Fin. Corp. v. English, 604 S.W.2d 458, 463 (Tex.App.—Tyler 1980, writ dism’d).

Further, “pleadings are sufficient under the Rules of Procedure if they give fair and adequate notice to the adversary.” Kissman v. Bendix Home Systems, Inc., 587 S.W.2d 675, 677 (Tex.1979).

When there are no special exceptions, a petition will be construed liberally in favor of the pleader. Stone v. Lawyers Title Insurance Corp., 554 S.W.2d 183, 186 (Tex.1977). Also, “[t]he court will look to the pleader’s intendment and the pleading will be upheld even if some element of a cause of action has not been specially alleged. Every fact will be supplied that can reasonably be inferred from what is specifically stated.” Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Bliss, 368 S.W.2d 594, 599 (Tex.1963)....

Roark v. Allen, 633 S.W.2d 804, 809-10 (Tex.1982).

In view of the burden on the appel-lee/movants, we turn to the record before us to determine whether the trial court erred in granting the summary judgment based on what was before him at the time he made his decision. The transcript reveals that the trial judge granted the summary judgment against the Acevedos, dismissing all their causes of action entirely, based on:

1) Appellee/Movants’ motion for summary judgment (without any affidavit or other attachments) filed August 7, 1989, which simply contended that the appellees were entitled to a summary judgment against the appellant, his wife, and their children because “[tjhere is no genuine issue as to any material fact between these [appellees] and the [appellant]” alleging that the [appellant] was a construction worker who worked for the [appellees]; that the appellees were subscribers to the Texas Worker’s Compensation Act which provided insurance for the appellant; and, that “the [appellees] are immune from liability based on the allegations in [appellants’] Petition [which at that time only alleged negligence and gross negligence and made no mention of intentional tort] and as such, said [appellants] have no cause of action against these [appellees];”

2) Appellants’ response to appellees’ motion for summary judgment filed August 31, 1989, which set out simply that the appellees are “not immune for liability for willful acts or gross negligence which is the theory of recovery as alleged in [appellant’s] petition in this cause;” that the appellees do “not present any evidence to show that as a matter of law [they are] entitled to judgment”; and, that “[t]he issue of willfulness of an act or gross negligence is an issue of fact;”

3) Appellants’ motion for leave to file amended petition filed September 8, 1989 (granted by the trial court on September 13, 1989), which clearly states that “[appellant] as a survivor of the work related injury would like to assert his cause of action against his employer under an intentional act theory;” and,

4) Appellant’s Second Amended Petition filed on September 8, 1989, with their motion for leave to amend, which complains for the first time about the conduct of the appellees which “rises to the level of an intentional injury and therefor the Acevedo [appellants] sue for such conduct.”

The record further reveals that there were no special exceptions filed by the appellee to the appellants’ pleadings, which requires that the appellants’ pleadings be construed liberally. Roark v. Allen, 633 S.W.2d at 809. The motion for leave to amend clearly discloses an “intendment” to allege an intentional tort, Id., and the resulting Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Petition permitted by the court, liberally construed, alleges intentional tort for the first time. Therefore, at the time the trial court rendered the summary judgment, it had the intentional tort cause of action before it, in addition to the causes of action for negligence and gross negligence which had been previously pled in Plaintiffs’ First Amended Petition. Mainland Savings Ass’n v. Wilson, 545 S.W.2d 491, 493 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1976, no writ); TEX.R.CIV. P. 63.

The record further reveals that the appellee’s motion for summary judgment resembles a general denial in its broad contentions that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact between these [ap-pellees] and the [appellants]” and that “these [appellants] are immune from liability based on the allegations in [appellants’] Petition and as such, said [appellants] have no cause of action against these [appel-lees].” The appellee failed to amend their global motion for summary judgment when the appellants added the intentional tort cause of action in the subsequent amended pleadings, which the court permitted. Since motions for summary judgment “stand or fall on the grounds specifically set forth in the motion(s),” Ortiz v. Spann, 671 S.W.2d 909, 914 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1984, ref’d n.r.e) (op. on reh’g), a question is raised as to whether the motion for summary judgment here sufficiently addressed all of the appellants’ causes of action, in order to sustain the movant’s burden and entitle it to this summary judgment, dismissing the appellants’ causes of action.

Defendant movants for summary judgment have the burden of showing as a matter of law that no material issue of fact exists as to all of the plaintiff’s causes of action. Arnold v. National County Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 725 S.W.2d 165 (Tex.1986); see also City of Beaumont v. Guillory, 751 S.W.2d 491, 492 (Tex.1988) (holding that a motion for summary judgment must expressly dispose of all issues presented in a suit). The Texas Supreme Court has indicated the urgency of specificity in motions for summary judgments:

It is axiomatic that one may not be granted judgment as a matter of law on a cause of action not addressed in a summary judgment proceeding. In City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Auth., 589 S.W.2d 671, 678 (Tex.1979), we wrote, “The movant ... must establish his entitlement to a summary judgment on the issues expressly presented to the trial court by conclusively proving all essential elements of his cause of action or defense as a matter of law.” (emphasis added).

Because [appellee] moved for summary judgment on only one of [appellant’s] four causes of action, the court of appeals’ affirmation of this judgment was improper as to the other causes of action alleged by [appellant], (cites omitted).

Chessher v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 658 S.W.2d 563, 564 (Tex.1983) (emphasis added in original).

A summary judgment, unlike a judgment signed after a trial on the merits, is presumed to dispose of only those issues expressly presented, not all issues in the case. A summary judgment that fails to dispose expressly of all parties and issues in the pending suit is interlocutory and not appealable unless a severance of that phase of the case is ordered by the trial court; in the absence of an order of severance, the party against whom an interlocutory summary judgment has been rendered has his right of appeal when and not before such partial summary judgment is merged in a final judgment disposing of all parties and issues. Teer v. Duddleston, 664 S.W.2d 702, 704 (Tex.1984).

City of Beaumont v. Guillory, 751 S.W.2d at 492 (emphasis added) (remaining citations omitted).

Appellees’ global motion for summary judgment fails to specifically “address” all the causes of action alleged by the plaintiffs, City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Auth., 589 S.W.2d at 678; Chessher v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 658 S.W.2d at 564, and appellee further failed to “expressly present” and “dispose expressly” of all the causes of action alleged by the appellants. City of Beaumont v. Guillory, 751 S.W.2d at 492. Even if the broad assertions in the motion for summary judgment could be considered to have addressed all the existing causes of actions, the only causes of action which the motion could have reference to would have been negligence and gross negligence, which were the only causes the appellants had alleged at the time the motion for summary judgment was filed. Since an intentional tort claim was not alleged until after the motion for summary judgment was filed, and the appellee failed to amend his motion for summary judgment to include this cause, it is questionable that the appellee specifically “addressed” or “disposed expressly” of the intentional tort cause of action.

The record further discloses that no summary judgment proof, such as affidavits, depositions, admissions or stipulations, were before the trial court, Stewart v. U.S. Leasing Corp., 702 S.W.2d at 290, and the pleadings, motions, and responses which were before the court cannot be considered summary judgment proof. Americana Motel, Inc. v. Johnson, 610 S.W.2d at 143; Kendall v. Whataburger, Inc., 759 S.W.2d at 754; Rhobes v. Interfirst Bank Fort Worth, N.A., 719 S.W.2d at 264. Therefore, appellee presented no summary judgment proof to sustain its burden as to their allegation that there is no genuine issue of any material fact between appellees and appellants.

Appellee correctly contends that a worker who receives workmen’s benefits waives a subsequent claim for an intentional tort in the same accident. Massey v. Armco Steel Co., 652 S.W.2d 932, 933 (Tex.1983). If the appellant Acevedo received workmen’s benefits, he waived any subsequent claim for an intentional tort. However, the issue before this court is whether the appellee properly sustained its burden which would entitle it to this summary judgment. Consequently, in order to sustain its burden as to this contention, the appellee was required to present summary judgment proof of the fact that Acevedo received the benefits. We have already concluded that no summary judgment proof was presented to the trial court by the appellee. Further, although the pleadings, motions and responses before the court are not summary judgment proof, these instruments also fail to state that Acevedo received any benefits.

The suggestion is made that a verbal remark by appellant’s counsel during the summary judgment hearing amounts to summary judgment proof that Acevedo received worker’s benefits. However, if counsel’s statements in his brief are .not summary judgment . proof, Nationwide Fin. Corp., 604 S.W.2d at 463, we fail to see how remarks by counsel during the summary judgment hearing could be considered summary judgment proof. Further, TEX.R.CIV. P. 166a(c) prohibits the trial court from receiving any extrinsic evidence, oral or documentary, during the summary judgment hearing. State v. Easley, 404 S.W.2d at 297. Therefore, appellee failed in its burden, by presenting no summary judgment proof that Acevedo received workmen’s benefits.

The final assertion in the appellee’s motion for summary judgment is that “these [appellees] are immune from liability based on the allegations in [appellant’s] Petition and as such, said [appellants] have no cause of action against these [appellees].” Obviously, the motion must have reference to the causes of action of negligence and gross negligence, which were the only causes of action that had been alleged by the appellants at the time the motion was filed. It is correct that the appellee is immune as a matter of law as to the causes of action of negligence and gross negligence. Reed Tool Co. v. Copelin, 689 S.W.2d 404, 406 (Tex.1985); TEX.REV.CIV. STAT.ANN. art. 8306 (Vernon 1967 and Vernon Supp.1990). However, since no amendments were filed to the motion for summary judgment that address the intentional tort, it is questionable that the appel-lee addressed the intentional tort at all.

Nevertheless, assuming that we conclude that this motion for summary judgment addressed all the causes of action of the appellants, including the intentional tort, clearly the appellees are not immune from liability to the Acevedos as to the intentional tort cause of action.

In this respect, the first Reed Tool Co. v. Copelin, 610 S.W.2d 736 (Tex.1980), is controlling. The suggestion that the second Reed Tool Co. v. Copelin, 689 S.W.2d 404 (Tex.1985), is controlling is incorrect. Where the first Reed Tool Co. case was a pure summary judgment case identical to the case before this court, the second Reed Tool Co. case, upon which appellee seems to rely, resembles more a directed verdict than a summary judgment. The second Reed Tool Co. case involved stipulated evidence agreed to by the parties, from which the court was able to determine whether the evidence sustained an intentional tort allegation.

In the first Reed Tool Co. case, the Texas Supreme Court held that the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act “does not, however, exempt employers from common law liability for intentional injuries,” because “this cause of action is guaranteed to the employee by the Texas Constitution; it cannot be taken away by the legislature”. Reed Tool Co., 610 S.W.2d at 739. However, unlike the case before us, the trial court there had correctly concluded that the injured worker had waived a subsequent cause of action on the intentional tort theory, because the parties presented the trial court with an agreed stipulation that the injured worker had been receiving worker’s compensation benefits. Id.

However, the trial court also granted summary judgment against the worker’s wife, which the Court of Appeals affirmed. Thus, the Texas Supreme Court described the issue before them as “whether a wife’s cause of action for loss of consortium against her injured husband’s employer is barred by the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act.” Reed Tool Co., 610 S.W.2d at 737. Reed Tool argued before the supreme court that the wife “cannot maintain an action for intentional impairment of consortium because [the husband worker] waived his “intentional injuries” action by claiming and accepting benefits under the Act.” Id. at 739. The supreme court disagreed holding that “a wife’s recovery for her loss of consortium was also separate property because the recovery sought was compensation for personal injuries” and that since “the Act did not destroy [the worker’s] cause of action for intentional injuries”, “[the wife’s] action for intentional impairment of consortium was not destroyed.” Id. The court finally concluded that the action of the wife “for intentional impairment of consortium was maintainable since the Act and [the husband’s] acceptance of workers’ compensation benefits could not destroy this separate property claim.” Id.

Considering the foregoing, the summary judgment as to the negligence and gross negligence causes of action is affirmed, and the summary judgment as to the intentional injuries cause of action is reversed and remanded.