in Re: Texas Mutual Insurance Company and Diane Thiele

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 17, 2006
• Docket: 13-06-00118-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

NUMBER 13-06-060-CV

TEXAS MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

AND DIANE THIELE, Appellants,

v.

DENISE GUZMAN AND TITO MARINES,

INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF THE

ESTATE OF DAVID MARINES, DECEASED, Appellees.

On appeal from the County Court at Law No. 3

of Cameron County, Texas.

NUMBER 13-06-118-CV

IN RE: TEXAS MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY AND DIANE THIELE

On Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Chief Justice Valdez and Justices Rodriguez and Castillo

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Castillo

This original proceeding and interlocutory appeal stem from an underlying action filed to prevent Texas Mutual Insurance Company from paying workers' compensation benefits to Denise Guzman and Tito Marines, the survivor of David Marines. ⁽¹⁾ After Texas Mutual received notice of injuries to Guzman and the death of Marines, it commenced workers' compensation proceedings. See generally Tex. Lab. Code Ann. §§ 401.001, et. seq. (Vernon 2006). Guzman and Marines's survivor filed suit and sought injunctive relief, ostensibly to protect their rights to pursue other remedies and preclude a finding that they elected benefits under the workers' compensation statute. See id. Texas Mutual filed a plea to the jurisdiction asserting that the Workers' Compensation Division of the Texas Department of Insurance maintained exclusive jurisdiction of the question squarely before the trial court, namely, entitlement to workers' compensation benefits. The trial court denied the plea and, finding that Guzman and the Marines estate were "likely to prevail" on the claim that they were independent contractors, the trial court entered an injunction stopping workers' compensation benefits. ⁽²⁾

Since the inception of appellate proceedings, Guzman and Marines requested, and were granted, a non-suit. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 162. Thus, we dismiss. See Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(f). ⁽³⁾

ERRLINDA CASTILLO

Justice

Memorandum Opinion delivered and

filed this 17th day of August, 2006.

1. An accident occurred in Colorado County while Guzman and Marines picked up trash along the highway and were struck by a car. At issue before the trial court was whether, at the time of the accident, Guzman and Marines, the decedent, were independent contractors and not employees subject to the workers' compensation framework.

2. The trial court order reads, in part:

[I]f the commission of these acts [payment of benefits] is not restrained immediately, Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable injury because they may be placed in the position of having made an election of remedies and/or subject to the exclusive remedy provision of the Texas Labor Code § 408.001, even though Plaintiffs contend that Denise Guzman and David Marines were not employees and are not entitled to receive workers' compensation benefits. It is further clear from the above-mentioned evidence the Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on these issues in future administrative and/or court proceedings.

3. We also dismiss the following motions. In appeal number 13-06-060-CV, we dismiss the motion to consolidate appeal and mandamus and motion for costs. In appeal number 13-06-118-CV, we dismiss relator's unopposed motion to consolidate appeal and mandamus and relator's motion for stay of underlying proceeding.