Campbell v. Texas Employers' Insurance Ass'n

920 S.W.2d 323
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 22, 1995
DocketNo. 01-93-00152-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 920 S.W.2d 323 (Campbell v. Texas Employers' Insurance Ass'n) 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
Campbell v. Texas Employers' Insurance Ass'n, 920 S.W.2d 323 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION

OLIVER-PARROTT, Chief Justice.

This is a lack of good faith and fair dealing case involving workers’ compensation in which summary judgment was granted in favor of the workers’ compensation insurance carriers against the claimants. We must determine whether the trial court properly granted the appellees motion for summary judgment. We find that it did not, and we reverse the judgment and remand the cause for a trial on the merits.

[326]*326Background

Danny Campbell was employed by the Houston Independent School District (HISD) as a crew chief in the trucking department. On April 26, 1988, he and another driver were at Pershing Middle School unloading a truck when Campbell took a break to take some sinus medication. Campbell swallowed the sinus pill and began to wash it down with some lemonade flavored Kool-Aid he had brought from home in a thermos. Campbell took two swallows of the Kool-Aid and immediately felt a burning sensation. He then experienced severe vomiting. He went to an emergency room, where the doctors informed him that he had ingested formaldehyde.

Campbell reported the incident to his employer, HISD. On May 12,1988, an Employer’s First Report of Injury or Illness was forwarded to the Industrial Accident Board. On June 9, 1989, a claim representative for appellees took a recorded statement from Campbell and his wife concerning the events surrounding Campbell’s injuries. On June 29, 1989, Texas Employers Insurance Association (TEIA) sent Campbell a statement of controversion denying coverage for Campbell’s workers’ compensation claims and medical expenses. TEIA denied coverage because appellees’ investigation did not reveal an “on-the-job injury.” As a result of his injuries, Danny Campbell died December 28, 1990.

Before his death, Campbell and his wife, Margaret Campbell, filed suit against HISD, Texas Employers Insurance Association, and Employers Casualty Company, for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. On February 7, 1991, after her husband’s death, Margaret Campbell, appellant, amended her petition in her capacity as executrix of her deceased husband’s estate. Through subsequent amended petitions, appellant added Employers National Risk Management Services, Inc., and Eugene Brodhead (the receiver for TEIA, which was then in receivership) as defendants. Appellant also added allegations that the defendants had violated the DTPA1 and article 21.21 of the Insurance Code.2

The appellees, except for Brodhead, moved for summary judgment on the grounds that: 1) as a matter of law they did not breach the duty of good faith and fair dealing, 2) the Campbells’ claims were barred by the statute of limitations and 3) the claims against them were barred due to governmental immunity. Appellant moved for partial summary judgment on the grounds that the appellees breached their duties of good faith and fair dealing as a matter of law. The trial court granted the appellees’ motion for summary judgment on August 10, 1992. On April 16, 1993, the trial court granted Brodhead’s motion for summary judgment.

Standard of Review

Under Tex.R.Civ.P. 166a(c), summary judgment is proper only when a movant establishes that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Williams v. Glash, 789 S.W.2d 261, 264 (Tex.1990). In reviewing the granting of a motion for summary judgment, this Court must take as true all evidence favorable to the nonmov-ant. Nixon v. Mr. Property Management, Inc., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985). Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the nonmovant, and any doubts resolved in its favor. Continental Casing Corp. v. Samedan Oil Corp., 751 S.W.2d 499, 501 (Tex.1988). If we determine that the summary judgment was improperly granted, we will reverse the judgment and remand the cause for a trial on the merits. Tobin v. Garcia, 159 Tex. 58, 316 S.W.2d 396, 400 (1958); Long v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., 828 S.W.2d 125, 127 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, writ denied). When, as in this case, both parties move for summary judgment and at least one is granted and the other overruled, we are authorized to either affirm the judgment or reverse the judgment and render judgment that the trial court should have rendered. Tobin, 316 S.W.2d at 400.

[327]*327When a trial court’s order does not specify the grounds relied on for its ruling, the summary judgment will be affirmed if any of the theories advanced are meritorious. Rogers v. Ricane Enter. Inc., 772 S.W.2d 76, 79 (Tex.1989); Brown v. Cain Chemical, Inc., 837 S.W.2d 239, 242 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, writ denied). Here, the trial court did not specify on which grounds it was granting the motion for summary judgment; therefore, we must determine if any of the theories asserted by appellees are meritorious.

Breach of the Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing

The duty of a workers’ compensation carrier to handle claims in good faith and with fair dealing was established in Aranda v. Insurance Co. of North America, 748 S.W.2d 210 (Tex.1988). A workers’ compensation claimant who asserts that a carrier breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing by refusing to pay or delaying payment must establish: 1) the absence of a reasonable basis for denying or delaying payment of the benefits of the policy; and 2) that the carrier knew or should have known that there was no reasonable basis for denying the claim or delaying payment of the claim. Id. at 213. The supreme court has recently reiterated the Aranda standard in Lyons v. Millers Casualty Ins. Co. of Texas, 866 S.W.2d 597 (Tex.1993) and National Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Dominguez, 873 S.W.2d 373 (Tex.1994). Appellant contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for appellees because material questions of fact existed as to whether appellees’ denial of payment was reasonable. We agree.

Appellant claims her husband’s injuries were sustained in the course of his employment, thus entitling him to workers’ compensation benefits under the statute. Appellees contend that Campbell’s injuries were the result of the intentional acts of a third person for personal reasons, thus exempting his injuries from coverage. Thus, the issue before us is whether Campbell’s injuries were sustained in the course of his employment. If they were, then appellant might be entitled to recovery on her bad faith claim, because appellees’ denial of coverage could have been unreasonable.

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Related

Campbell v. TEXAS EMPLOYERS'INS. ASS'N
920 S.W.2d 323 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)

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920 S.W.2d 323, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campbell-v-texas-employers-insurance-assn-texapp-1995.