Dayton Independent School District v. U.S. Mineral Products Co.

800 F. Supp. 1430, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20709, 1992 WL 213899
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 12, 1992
DocketCiv. A. B-87-507-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 800 F. Supp. 1430 (Dayton Independent School District v. U.S. Mineral Products Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dayton Independent School District v. U.S. Mineral Products Co., 800 F. Supp. 1430, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20709, 1992 WL 213899 (E.D. Tex. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

JOE J. FISHER, District Judge.

ON THIS DAY came on for consideration Defendants, W.R. Grace & Co.Conn.’s and United States Gypsum Company’s, Motions for Summary Judgment concerning the application of the Statute of Repose, Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code, Sections 16.008 and 16.009. The Court, having considered the extensive briefing by both Plaintiffs and Defendants, finds that the Defendants are not afforded protection by either Section.

Grace argues that it is entitled to the protection of Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code, Sections 16.008 and 16.009. United States Gypsum relies on Section 16.009 alone. Plaintiffs deny that Defendants are entitled to such immunity under either statute, arguing that the legislature did not intend to afford manufacturers of these type of *1432 products this immunity, and furthermore that material issues of fact exists which preclude entry of summary judgment.

The question presented to this Court is whether Sections 16.008 and 16.009 protects all manufacturers of products installed within a building. In this diversity action, the Court must look to Texas law governing the substantive issues in this case. Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938). No Texas court has yet addressed this specific issue, and therefore this Court must determine whether the Texas Supreme Court would afford manufacturers of building products such protection.

The Texas Supreme Court set out the general rule for construction of a statute in City of Mason v. West Texas Utilities Co., 150 Tex. 18, 237 S.W.2d 273 (1951). There, the Supreme Court stated:

The fundamental rule controlling the construction of a statute is to ascertain the intention of the legislature expressed therein. That intention should be ascertained from the entire Act, and not from isolated portions thereof. This court has repeatedly held that the intention of the legislature in enacting a law is the law itself; and hence the aim and object of construction is to ascertain and enforce the legislative intent, and not defeat, nullify or thwart it____

Id., 237 S.W.2d at 278. In the absence of controlling law, this Court must assume the Texas Supreme Court’s task of determining legislative intent for the enactment of this statute.

Article 5536a, the predecessor to Section 16.008, was first enacted by the 61st Legislature in 1969. The title of the Act is “Limitations of Actions Against Architects and Engineers.” Chapter 418, Section 1, 1969, Tex.Gen.Law, Local and Specific 1379. The emergency clause provides that, “the fact that registered or licensed engineers or architects ... have unlimited time liability for their acts ... creates an emergency____” As plainly set out in the title, emergency clause, in the body of the statute, Section 16.008 addresses only two classes of persons who are entitled to protection — architects and engineers.

In Ellerbe v. Otis Elevator Co., 618 S.W.2d 870 (Tex.Civ.App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1981, writ ref’d, n.r.e.), the Court of Appeals found that only registered or licensed engineers and architects are protected under Section 1. This finding was based on the fact that “the title of the Act refers to any registered or licensed engineer or architect, and the emergency clause refers to registered or licensed engineers or architects only____” Id. at 872. The statute is plain and unambiguous, and it speaks clearly and unequivocally to architects and engineers, and no other class.

Grace cites Ellerbe as a case in which “the court directly addressed the question of whether the Statute of Repose applies to a company that employes architects and engineers who design products____” (Grace Brief, P. 9). This assertion is incorrect. Even though the summary judgment evidence established “that the elevator was designed by a registered engineer and architect employed by Otis Elevator Company ... ,” id. at 872, the court did not find that Section 1 was applicable. Rather, the court affirmed the judgment because “Section 2 of Article 5536(a) [was] a sufficient basis for the summary judgment in favor of the Otis Elevator Company____” Id. Otis Elevator was not afforded protection under Section 1 [16.008] because the engineers and architects did not provide the type of architectural or engineering services which the legislature sought to protect in enacting Article 5536a.

Clearly the legislature sought to protect a particular class of construction professionals — architects and engineers. As the First Court of Appeals in Sowders v. M. W. Kellogg Co., 663 S.W.2d 644 (Tex.Civ. App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1983, writ ref’d, n.r.e.), noted in addressing a plaintiff’s claim that this statute violated the equal protection clause:

We reaffirm our holding in Ellerbe that the classification adopted in Article 5536(a) bears a rational relationship to a legitimate state interest, that being to relieve architects, engineers and con *1433 tractors from the burden of indefinite potential liability for past construction projects over which they no longer have control.

Id. at 648.

In McCulloch v. Fox & Jacobs, Inc., 696 S.W.2d 918 (Tex.Civ.App. — Dallas 1985, writ ref’d, n.r.e.), the Dallas Court of Appeals discussed the general purposes of the statute, stating:

The statute demonstrates legislative recognition of the protracted and extensive vulnerability to lawsuits of architects, engineers, and others within its purview ... As a result of judicial erosion of the privity of contract defense and judicial adoption of the discovery rule for accrual of a cause of action, construction professionals are subjected to expanded liability and, consequently escalation of insurance rates____
Further, the construction professional exercises little, if any, control over the property once the construction is complete____ Thus, balancing the legislative purpose against individual interests, we conclude that the ten year ceiling is a reasonable means of addressing these issues and enabling construction professionals and their insurance carriers to calculate probable liability without unreasonably compromising the rights of an injured party to bring a cause of action____

Id. at 924-925. (Emphasis added).

“The mere fact that a firm or company has a person in its employ who is an engineer does not make the firm an engineer with the meaning of Section 16.008____” Kazmir v. Suburban Homes Realty,

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Bluebook (online)
800 F. Supp. 1430, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20709, 1992 WL 213899, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dayton-independent-school-district-v-us-mineral-products-co-txed-1992.