Eslon Thermoplastics v. Dynamic Systems, Inc.

49 S.W.3d 891, 2001 WL 726359
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 9, 2001
Docket03-00-00501-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 49 S.W.3d 891 (Eslon Thermoplastics v. Dynamic Systems, 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
Eslon Thermoplastics v. Dynamic Systems, Inc., 49 S.W.3d 891, 2001 WL 726359 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

BEA ANN SMITH, Justice.

After a water line broke causing $800,000 in damages to a semiconductor wafer processor and the new building in which it was installed, owner Tokyo Electron America, Inc. (Tokyo Electron) and its property insurer Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Company (Tokio Marine) 1 sued Dynamic Systems, Inc., which installed the water line, and Eslon Thermoplastics (Es-lon), which manufactured the pipe fitting that broke. Eslon, in turn, sued Dynamic Systems for indemnity and contribution. Dynamic Systems was granted summary judgment against Tokyo Electron and Es-lon based on a waiver of subrogation clause in the contract between Tokyo Electron and the general contractor, which was incorporated into its contracts with subcontractors. Tokyo Electron and Tokio Marine appeal that judgment, arguing that the water line was installed pursuant to a separate contract between Tokyo Electron and Dynamic Systems, which had no waiver of subrogation clause. In the event this Court reverses the summary judgment against Tokio, Eslon urges that we reverse the summary judgment on its contribution claim. Because we hold that there is a genuine issue of material fact whether the work occurred under a separate contract, we reverse both summary judgments and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Tokyo Electron manufactures, sells, and services semiconductor equipment. In April 1995, Taisei Construction Corporation agreed to be the design/builder of Tokyo Electron’s new corporate facility in Austin. 2 This facility included an on-site training lab to familiarize customers with the operation of Tokyo Electron’s Clean Track photoresist processing systems. Taisei hired subcontractors to provide labor and materials on various parts of the project. Dynamic Systems contracted to install the building’s plumbing infrastructure. Taisei later asked Dynamic Systems to submit a bid on bringing chilled water lines from the ceiling of the training facility down the wall to a piece of machinery called the Clean Track Mark 8 wafer processor (Mark 8), which is used in the production of semiconductor wafers. Dynam *895 ic Systems submitted a bid to Taisei in April 1996, and performed the Mark 8 hookup in July 1996.

Tokyo Electron began moving into the new facility during the first weekend of August 1996. On August 3, one of the chilled water lines in the training lab burst, forcefully spraying water that destroyed the Mark 8 and severely damaged parts of the building. Tokyo Electron’s investigation concluded that certain pipe fittings manufactured by Eslon were defective or were negligently installed and that this was the cause of the accident that resulted in damages exceeding $800,000.

Taisei’s contract with Tokyo Electron included a waiver of all claims for damage arising out of the construction project, allocating such risks to insurers without a right of subrogation. Tokyo Electron was obligated to procure insurance to cover any losses that might occur during construction regardless of blame. Taisei’s subcontract with Dynamic Systems expressly incorporated the waiver of claims. Tokyo Electron carried two types of insurance on the building, builder’s risk coverage and property insurance. Because the project was substantially complete at the time of the loss, the builder’s risk coverage was no longer in effect. Therefore, Tokyo Electron’s property insurer, Tokio Marine, covered the loss on the Mark 8. Tokio Marine now seeks to recover from Dynamic Systems and Eslon.

Tokyo Electron and Tokio Marine (collectively Tokio) sued Dynamic Systems and Eslon 3 for strict liability, negligence, and breach of implied warranties. It was their position that Dynamic Systems connected the chilled water lines to the Mark 8 under a direct contract with Tokyo Electron, which had no waiver of claims for damages and no waiver of subrogation. Dynamic Systems contends that Tokyo Electron and Taisei intended to avoid legal disputes such as this one by allocating all risks of damage growing out of the construction project to insurance, without a right of subrogation. Dynamic Systems insists that it was performing under the subcontract with Taisei when it installed the chilled water lines and connected them to the Mark 8. It relies on the waiver to defeat Tokio Marine’s subrogation claims. In the trial court, Dynamic Systems filed a motion for summary judgment based on this clause. The court granted the summary judgment in favor of Dynamic Systems but then granted Tokio’s motion for new trial, which asserted newly discovered evidence. Dynamic Systems subsequently filed its second motion for summary judgment against Tokio and a motion for summary judgment against Eslon, based on the derivative claims of contribution and indemnity. The trial court granted both motions in favor of Dynamic Systems.

Tokio and Eslon appeal. Tokio urges that the trial court erroneously granted summary judgment because genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether the hookup was performed as part of Dynamic Systems’ subcontract with Taisei or pursuant to a separate contract with Tokyo Electron that did not contain or incorporate the waiver. Should this Court reverse the summary judgment against Tok-io, Eslon seeks reversal of the summary judgment against Eslon on the issue of contribution.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A summary judgment shall be rendered if the evidence properly before the court indicates that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the *896 moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); see also Rodriguez v. Naylor Indus., Inc., 763 S.W.2d 411, 413 (Tex.1989). The party moving for summary judgment has the burden showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Nixon v. Mr. Prop. Mgmt. Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548 (Tex.1985). Evidence favorable to the nonmovant will be taken as true in deciding whether there is a disputed material fact issue that would preclude summary judgment. Id. at 548-49. Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the nonmovant and any doubts resolved in its favor. Id. at 549.

When a defendant moves for summary judgment on an affirmative defense, as Dynamic Systems does, it must conclusively establish each element of its defense as a matter of law. See Velsicol Chem. Corp. v. Winograd, 956 S.W.2d 529, 530 (Tex.1997). A defendant is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law on an affirmative defense if the plaintiff supplies evidence as to any material fact issue relevant to the defense upon which reasonable minds could differ. Santanna Natural Gas Corp. v. Hamon Operating Co., 954 S.W.2d 885, 890 (Tex.App.—Austin 1997, pet. denied) (citing Kassen v. Hatley, 887 S.W.2d 4, 9 (Tex.1994)).

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Bluebook (online)
49 S.W.3d 891, 2001 WL 726359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eslon-thermoplastics-v-dynamic-systems-inc-texapp-2001.