Esquivel v. Murray Guard, Inc.

992 S.W.2d 536, 1999 WL 144831
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 10, 1999
Docket14-97-01432-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by74 cases

This text of 992 S.W.2d 536 (Esquivel v. Murray Guard, 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
Esquivel v. Murray Guard, Inc., 992 S.W.2d 536, 1999 WL 144831 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

WANDA McKEE FOWLER, Justice.

Appellants, Debbie Esquivel and Florida Residential Property & Casualty Joint Underwriters Association (“Esquivel”), appeal from the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of appellee, Murray Guard, Inc. (“Murray Guard”). Esquivel brings three points of error, contending the trial court erred in (1) granting summary judgment in favor of Murray Guard on her tort claim; (2) granting summary judgment in favor of Murray Guard on her contract claim; and (3) requiring her to file a supersedeas bond for taxable court costs. We affirm.

Background

On June 19, 1994, Debbie Esquivel rented a hotel room at the Baytown La Quinta. She asked the clerk where she could park a rented U-Haul moving van containing personal property and towing her car. A clerk told her to park on the street adjacent to the hotel and assured her the van would be safe “because of the security it provided.” The next day, Esquivel’s van and car were missing.

Esquivel sued La Quinta for negligence, breach of warranty, breach of contract, and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), believing La Quinta was the sole provider of security. During the course of discovery, Esquivel learned that Murray Guard provided security to the La Quinta in question. She joined Murray Guard on August 30, 1996, and Murray Guard filed a motion for sum *540 mary judgment asserting that the statute of limitations had run and that the discovery rule did not apply. The court granted the motion and severed Murray Guard.

Standard of Review

In reviewing the court’s order granting summary judgment, we take as true all evidence favoring the non-movant and indulge every reasonable inference in its favor. See Science Spectrum, Inc. v. Martinez, 941 S.W.2d 910, 911 (Tex.1997). When a defendant moves for summary judgment on the basis of an affirmative defense, such as a statute of limitations, it must prove conclusively all elements of the affirmative defense as a matter of law and preclude all genuine issues of material fact. See Velsicol Chem. Corp. v. Winograd, 956 S.W.2d 529, 530 (Tex.1997); University of Houston v. Sterling Bank, 963 S.W.2d 93, 94 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1997, writ denied). If the plaintiff pleads the discovery rule as an exception to the running of the statute of limitations, the movant must negate that exception as well. See Winograd, 956 S.W.2d at 530. If the movant establishes its right to summary judgment, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to present summary judgment proof to establish a genuine issue of material fact. See Sterling Bank, 963 S.W.2d at 94.

Point of Error One

Point of error one consists of three sub-points: Esquivel argues the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for Murray Guard on her tort claim because (1) Murray Guard did not negate the discovery rule, (2) Murray Guard did not negate the equitable exclusion rule, and (3) a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether La Quinta and Murray Guard entered into a joint enterprise.

The Discovery Rule

The purpose of limiting the time in which a plaintiff can bring a cause of action is to compel the exercise of a plaintiffs rights within a reasonable time to allow an opposing party to defend itself while witnesses are available and evidence is fresh in their minds. See Computer Assocs., Inc. v. Altai, Inc., 918 S.W.2d 453, 456 (Tex.1996). The parties agree that Esquivel’s causes of action for negligence and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act must be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues. See Tex. Bus. & Com.Code ANN. § 17.566 (Vernon 1987); Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 16.003 (Vernon 1986). Generally, a cause of action accrues when a wrongful act causes a legal injury, regardless of when the plaintiff learned of his injury. See S.V. v. R.V., 933 S.W.2d 1, 4 (Tex.1996). The discovery rule, however, when applied, tolls the running of the statute of limitations until the plaintiff discovered or should have discovered the nature of his injury. See Murphy v. Campbell, 964 S.W.2d 265, 271 (Tex.1997).

The discovery rule applies when an injury is inherently undiscoverable and the evidence of the injury is objectively unverifiable. See Altai 918 S.W.2d at 456. An injury is inherently undiscoverable if “it is difficult for the injured party to learn of the negligent act or omission.” Id. (quoting Willis v. Maverick, 760 S.W.2d 642, 645 (Tex.1988)). It must be “by nature unlikely to be discovered despite due diligence.” Marshall v. First Baptist Church, 949 S.W.2d 504, 507 (Tex.App.Houston [14 th Dist.] 1997, no writ). It need not be absolutely impossible to discover. See S.V., 933 S.W.2d at 7.

Esquivel admits that she knew of her injury in June of 1994, but she claims she did not know Murray Guard was a cause until La Quinta responded to discovery. Esquivel’s contention is similar to the plaintiffs unsuccessful argument in Russell v. Ingersoll-Rand Co., 841 S.W.2d 343, 344 (Tex.1992). In Ingersoll-Rand, the plaintiffs argued that the discovery rule tolled the running of the statute of limitations until it could be determined who was *541 responsible for their injury. The court disagreed, noting that “limitations begin to run when the fact of the injury is known, not when the alleged wrongdoers are identified.” Id. at 344 n. 3. Similarly, in Sei-bert v. General Motors Corp., 853 S.W.2d 773 (Tex.App. — Houston [14 th Dist.] 1993, no writ), the plaintiff argued the discovery rule applied because he did not know he had a cause of action against a vehicle manufacturer until he read a news program transcript concerning the safety of the seatbelt he was wearing at the time of his car accident. Id. at 776. We disagreed that the rule applied and held that it applies only to the discovery of the injury. Id. at 776-77. Because the plaintiffs injury was discoverable and, indeed, discovered on the date of the collision, the running of the statute of limitations was not tolled by the discovery rule. Id. at 777.

In short, Esquivel’s attempt to toll the running of the limitation because she was not aware Murray Guard was a potential wrongdoer runs afoul of the language in Ingersoll-Rand and Seibert and is counter to the purpose of the discovery rule.

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992 S.W.2d 536, 1999 WL 144831, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/esquivel-v-murray-guard-inc-texapp-1999.