Calp v. Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity

75 S.W.3d 641, 2002 WL 710392
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 20, 2002
Docket07-01-0301-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 75 S.W.3d 641 (Calp v. Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity) 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
Calp v. Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, 75 S.W.3d 641, 2002 WL 710392 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

DON H. REAVIS, Justice.

Appellants Lawrence and Paula Calp, individually and as representatives of the Estate of Tricia Calp; James and Louetta Hollister, individually and as representatives of the Estate of Emily Hollister; Donald and Susan Lanham, individually and as representatives of the Estate of Erika Lanham; Cynthia Flores, individually and as representative of the Estate of William Flores, and for and on behalf of Kylan A. McEachern, surviving minhr child of William Flores; and Dolan and Marilyn Wostal, Jr., individually and as representatives of the Estate of Dolan Wostal, III (hereafter appellants); 1 and Mark and Ginger Bruton, individually and as next friend of Chase Bruton, a minor, and representatives of the Estate of Ted Bruton, deceased (hereafter the Brutons), 2 present this appeal from a summary judgment that they take nothing on their suit against appellees Tau Kappa,Epsilon Fraternity, an Illinois non-profit corporation, and Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, Pi Eta Chapter, a Chapter and Unincorporated Association of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. Tricia Calp, Erika M. Lanham, Emily Hollister, William M. Flores, Dolan W. Wostal, III, and Ted Bruton (hereafter referred to as students) were killed while walking on the shoulder of FM 60 when they were, struck by a pickup truck driven by Brandon Kallmeyer in the early morning hours of October 10, 1999. By one point of error, the Brutons contend the trial court erred in granting appellees’ motion for summary judgment, 3 and by separate brief, the remaining appellants present five issues, to wit:

1. whether the District Court erred in granting the TKE Fraternity’s no-evidence point that it was a social host which owed no duty of care to the Children where Appellants’ uncontroverted summary judgment evidence established that the Children were owed a duty of care as invitees of the TKE Fraternity because it is a commercial enterprise which promotes its business with events like the one to which the Children were invited;
2. whether the District Court erred in granting the TKE Fraternity’s no-evidence point that it did not owe the Children a duty of care where Appellants’ uncontroverted summary judgment evidence established that the TKE Fraternity engaged in conduct which was “dangerous” and created a foreseeable risk of harm'to the Children;
3. whether the District Court erred in ruling that the TKE Fraternity did not owe the Children a duty of care under the Texas A & M University Student Safety Rules, the TKE Fraternity’s own *644 risk-management rules and other expert and lay evidence introduced by Appellants which demonstrated, inter alia, that the TKE Fraternity expressly undertook a duty to protect the Children from harm;
4. whether the District Court erred in ruling that the TKE Fraternity did not owe the Children a duty of care under principles of premises liability where Appellants’ summary judgment evidence established, inter alia, that the TKE Fraternity exercised control over the shoulder yet failed to reasonably protect the Children, and knowingly sponsored a dangerous event and created a dangerous condition on its property and the adjacent highway; and
5. whether Appellants’ evidence demonstrates that the injury or death was a foreseeable consequence of the TKE Fraternity’s misconduct established a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the TKE Fraternity was a proximate cause of this tragedy or relieved from liability by the intervening negligence of Brandon Kallmeyer.

Based upon the rationale expressed herein, we affirm.

Although the claims of the Brutons and the remaining appellants are not identical, because the element of proximate cause is common to all their claims, we will focus our review on causation, and our fact statement will reflect only such summary judgment evidence as is necessary to develop our analysis. On the evening of October 9, 1999, following the Texas A & M University and Baylor University football game, nine students 4 drove to the fraternity party barn on the south side of FM 60 just inside the city limits of College Station to attend a party hosted by the TKE Fraternity Chapter at Texas A & M University. When they arrived, some cars were parked on the south side of FM 60. After the students parked their cars on the north shoulder of FM 60, they walked to the south side of the highway. As they approached the south side of the highway, three of the students walked to the south side of the row of parked vehicles and then walked east toward the party barn on the grassy portion of the shoulder. However, the remaining six students did not walk on the grassy portion of the shoulder but instead, while walking on the eastbound paved shoulder portion of FM 60, suffered fatal injuries when they were struck by a pickup driven by Brandon Kallmeyer, 5 who had fallen asleep while driving home. According to Sergeant Gregory R. Lewis of the Texas Department of Public Safety, who investigated the accident, it did not appear that Kallmeyer was impaired by alcohol or drugs.

The Brutons alleged 17 acts of negligence (appendix A) and the remaining appellants alleged 12 acts of negligence (appendix B) contending those acts of negligence were the proximate cause of the accident. Although Brandon Kall-meyer and Texas A & M Pi Eta Housing Corporation were also named as defendants, they were severed from the proceeding and are not parties to this appeal. Presenting three grounds, by their motion for summary judgment, appellees contended that (1) the Fraternity did not owe a duty to the students; (2) alternatively, that the danger of walking on the shoulder of the highway was as open and *645 obvious to the students as it was to the Fraternity, and (3) alternatively, that any alleged act or omission of the Fraternity was not the proximate cause of the fatal accident. Before commencing our analysis, we first set out the appropriate standard of review.

Summary Judgment Standard of Review

Rule 166a(c)

In reviewing a summary judgment based upon a Rule 166a(b), this Court must apply the standards established in Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985), which are:

1. The movant for summary judgment has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
2. In deciding whether there is a disputed material fact issue precluding summary judgment, evidence favorable to the non-movant will be taken as true.
3. Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the non-movant and any doubts resolved in its favor.

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Bluebook (online)
75 S.W.3d 641, 2002 WL 710392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/calp-v-tau-kappa-epsilon-fraternity-texapp-2002.