Dieter v. Baker Service Tools

776 S.W.2d 781, 1989 WL 99937
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 31, 1989
Docket13-88-494-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 776 S.W.2d 781 (Dieter v. Baker Service Tools) 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
Dieter v. Baker Service Tools, 776 S.W.2d 781, 1989 WL 99937 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

KENNEDY, Justice.

Dieter brought a negligent hiring and supervision action against Baker for personal injuries sustained when Dieter was allegedly assaulted by two of Baker’s employees, Welch and Fox. Appeal is taken from the trial court’s granting of Baker’s motion for summary judgment. We affirm.

This appeal is the second appeal of the case. In the first appeal (“Dieter I”), we affirmed the granting of Baker’s motion for summary judgment upon Dieter’s theory of respondeat superior, but we reversed and remanded the granting of Baker’s motion for summary judgment upon Dieter’s theory of negligent hiring and supervision.

The facts of the case are fully stated in Dieter I. 1 A brief summary of those facts follows. Baker is in the oil field tool supply business and employed Welch as its district manager. Welch was Fox’s supervisor. Dieter had allegedly beaten Welch’s son, whom Dieter thought was prowling the neighborhood. A day or two later, Welch and Fox, during business hours, went to a bar where they drank beer and shot pool. Leaving the bar at approximately 5:30 p.m., Welch decided to confront Dieter. Intoxicated, Welch and Fox proceeded to Dieter’s residence and assaulted him.

In Dieter I, Dieter asserted claims against Baker under (1) the doctrine of respondeat superior and (2) negligent hiring and supervision. This Court affirmed the granting of Baker’s motion for summary judgment on Dieter’s respondeat superi- or claim. With respect to Dieter’s negligent hiring and supervision claim, we reversed on the ground that Baker failed to assert in his motion that “it was unforeseeable that any negligence in hiring or supervising Welch or Fox would result in an assault upon a third person such as Dieter.” 2

On remand, the trial court granted Baker’s revised motion for summary judgment based upon Dieter’s single cause of action, negligent hiring and supervision. Baker revised his motion expressly asserting the grounds that we found lacking in “Dieter 7.” Dieter, by his single point of error, asserts that the trial court erred by granting Baker’s motion for summary judgment.

As we stated in Dieter I, when reviewing a summary judgment:

*783 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.

Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985). A defendant is entitled to prevail on a motion for summary judgment if he establishes as a matter of law that no genuine issue of material fact exists as to one or more elements of the plaintiff’s cause of action. Bader v. Cox, 701 S.W.2d 677, 680 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1985, writ ref d n.r.e.).

Baker’s motion for summary judgment alleges that there is no evidence that any act of negligent hiring or supervision proximately caused Dieter’s injuries. In support of its motion, Baker relies upon Dieter’s deposition which indicates that (1) the incident in which Dieter allegedly beat Welch’s son had nothing to do with the employment of either Welch or Fox; (2) Dieter did not know Welch or Fox prior to the alleged assault upon him; and (3) Dieter had never been a customer of Baker, and he had no connection to the oil industry.

In response to Baker's revised motion for summary judgment, Dieter presented four affidavits: one from Dieter himself, two from former employers of Welch, and one from an expert in the field of personnel management and hiring. Dieter contends that the evidence contained in these affidavits is sufficient to raise a fact issue concerning the alleged absence of proximate cause.

Generally speaking, questions of law decided on appeal will govern a case throughout its subsequent stages. Hudson v. Wakefield, 711 S.W.2d 628, 630 (Tex.1986). In Dieter I, this Court set out what is necessary to establish proximate cause under the facts of this case:

[I]n order to impose liability upon an employer under the doctrine of negligent hiring, there must be evidence that the plaintiff’s injuries were brought about by reason of the employment of the incompetent servant and be, in some manner, job-related. Stated another way, the negligence in hiring the employee must be the proximate cause of the injuries to the plaintiff (citations omitted). 3

The specific issue before us is whether the evidence presented by Dieter raises a fact issue regarding proximate cause, i.e., that Dieter’s injuries were related to Baker’s employment of Welch and Fox.

With respect to a summary judgment proceeding, opposing affidavits shall be made on personal knowledge and shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence. Tex.R.Civ.P. 166a(e) (Vernon Supp.1989). Furthermore, legal conclusions in affidavits are insufficient to raise issues of fact in response to motions for summary judgment. Mercer v. Daoran, 676 S.W.2d 580, 583 (Tex.1984); Manges v. Astra Bar, Inc., 596 S.W.2d 605, 610 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.).

Dieter’s affidavit and the affidavits of the two former employers of Welch conclude that Baker should have foreseen, as a result of Baker’s hiring of Welch and Fox, that Welch and Fox would commit violent acts against someone like Dieter. None of these affidavits assert any facts that would tend to show that Dieter’s injuries were related to Baker’s employment of Fox and Welch. Speculative and conclusory statements about foreseeability contained in these three affidavits are insufficient to raise a fact issue in response to Baker’s summary judgment motion.

The fourth affidavit, by Maria S. Fletcher, asserts: (1) that Welch had a malicious and violent nature and was unfit for supervisory duties; (2) that Fox and Welch drank on the job and Baker’s lack of supervision encouraged this activity; (3) that

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Bluebook (online)
776 S.W.2d 781, 1989 WL 99937, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dieter-v-baker-service-tools-texapp-1989.