Banzhaf v. ADT Security Systems Southwest, Inc.

28 S.W.3d 180, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6162, 2000 WL 1287930
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 7, 2000
Docket11-99-00227-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 28 S.W.3d 180 (Banzhaf v. ADT Security Systems Southwest, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Banzhaf v. ADT Security Systems Southwest, Inc., 28 S.W.3d 180, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6162, 2000 WL 1287930 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

TERRY McCALL, Justice.

Angie King was severely injured, and Frederick John Banzhaf was killed during a robbery of the Herman’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (Herman’s) store in Richardson. 1 Both were employees of Herman’s. The robbery was committed by another Herman’s employee and his accomplice. King and the parents of Banzhaf sued ADT Security Systems Southwest, Inc. (ADT), which had provided the security system for Herman’s. Plaintiffs alleged negligence, design defect, and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices— Consumer Protection Act (DTPA), TEX. BUS. & COM. CODE ANN. § 17.01 et seq. (Vernon 1987 & Pamph. Supp.2000). ADT subsequently filed a third-party claim against Herman’s, seeking indemnification based upon the written contracts between ADT and Herman’s. The trial court granted summary judgment to ADT against plaintiffs and, after a bench trial, granted ADT a judgment against Herman’s. We reverse and remand that portion of ADT’s summary judgment against the Banzhafs on their DTPA claim because ADT failed to include the Banzhafs in their motion for summary judgment on that claim. We affirm the remainder of ADT’s judgment against the plaintiffs and ADT’s judgment against Herman’s.

Background Facts

The following facts are undisputed. Pri- or to its liquidation in bankruptcy, Herman’s was a nationwide chain of sporting goods stores. Herman’s had a national contract with ADT for ADT to install and monitor alarm systems in all of the Herman’s stores throughout the country. The national contract set out certain basic alarm services that ADT would provide the various stores, but an individual store could vary those basic services by executing a separate written agreement with ADT. The Richardson store executed a separate agreement with ADT.

Herman’s had its own internal department in charge of security, and Herman’s selected the alarm services to be used in each store. When negotiating the national contract, ADT offered Herman’s the opportunity to contract for any alarm monitoring service that ADT made available. One of the features offered by ADT was a “duress code” feature; however, Herman’s expressly refused the duress code feature. The duress code feature allows a designated user of the security system to silently trigger the alarm to indicate that the user is being held hostage. To trigger the alarm, the user enters a special single-digit code, along with his or her own password.

Even after the national contract was signed, Herman’s continued to refuse any *184 duress code feature for its new stores. 2 That policy was in effect at the time of the robbery of the Richardson store. Herman’s did select a feature known as the “late opening/closing” feature that ran on a pre-set 14-hour cycle. Upon the expiration of the cycle, Herman’s either had to open the store and turn the alarm off or leave the store and turn the system on. If a particular Herman’s store needed to have employees remain in the store past the normal 14-hour cycle for inventory or for other purposes, certain authorized Herman’s employees could extend the cycle by entering their passcode and the number of hours they wished to extend the cycle. King, as assistant manager of the Richardson store, was authorized to extend the cycle.

The alarm system selected by Herman’s for all its stores was designed to be activated only when the store was closed and when all employees had left the premises. ADT did not provide daytime monitoring services or guards to Herman’s, and ADT never responded to daytime security matters at Herman’s in Richardson..

King, Banzhaf, and one other employee were closing the Richardson store one evening. King had locked the main front door but left a metal gate over the door partly open to allow employees to exit through the door after setting the alarm. Just before the three employees were ready to leave, they were confronted in the store by James Langston, another Herman’s employee, who was armed and had an accomplice. Langston asked King for the code to the alarm. King gave Langston her code and explained to him how to extend the store’s closing time. Langston extended the closing time. Either Langston or his accomplice then killed Banzhaf and the other employee and tried to kill King. King suffered a blunt force injury to her head and a slashing of her throat. She survived, however, and Langston and his accomplice were caught and convicted.

King’s and Banzhafs’ Claims

ADT’s motion for summary judgment against King and the Banzhafs contained not only a motion for traditional summary judgment under TEX.R.CIV.P. 166a(b) & (c), but also a motion for a “no evidence” summary judgment under TEX. R.CIV.P. 166a(i). 3 The motion for traditional summary judgment asserted that ADT owed no duty to King and the Ban-zhafs, that there was not a design defect or the design defect claim of plaintiffs was barred because the alleged defect was “open and obvious,” and that King was not a consumer within the DTP A. 4 ADT’s motion for a “no evidence” summary judgment asserted that, even if ADT had a duty, there was no evidence that ADT breached that duty and that there was no evidence to support a conclusion that any act or omission of ADT caused King’s injuries or Banzhafs death. In granting summary judgment to ADT, the trial court did not state on what grounds it relied. Therefore, plaintiffs must defeat each summary judgment ground urged by ADT. Carr v. Brasher, 776 S.W.2d 567, 569 (Tex. *185 1989); Rogers v. Ricane Enterprises, Inc., 772 S.W.2d 76, 79 (Tex.1989).

A trial court must grant a motion for a traditional summary judgment if the moving party establishes that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 166a(c); Lear Siegler, Inc. v. Perez, 819 S.W.2d 470, 471 (Tex.1991). A trial court properly grants summary judgment in favor of a defendant if the defendant conclusively establishes all elements of an affirmative defense or conclusively negates at least one element of the plaintiffs claim. American Tobacco Company, Inc. v. Grinnell, 951 S.W.2d 420, 425 (Tex.1997). When reviewing a traditional summary judgment, we take as true evidence favorable to the non-movant and indulge every reasonable inference and resolve any doubts in favor of the non-movant. American Tobacco Company, Inc. v. Grinnell, supra; Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Company, Inc., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985).

When the motion is for a “no evidence” summary judgment, we review only the evidence presented by the non-movant. Rule 166a(i); Hight v. Dublin Veterinary Clinic,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 S.W.3d 180, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6162, 2000 WL 1287930, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/banzhaf-v-adt-security-systems-southwest-inc-texapp-2000.