JCW Electronics, Inc. v. Garza

257 S.W.3d 701, 51 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1104, 2008 Tex. LEXIS 619, 2008 WL 2554942
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedJune 27, 2008
Docket05-1042
StatusPublished
Cited by76 cases

This text of 257 S.W.3d 701 (JCW Electronics, Inc. v. Garza) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
JCW Electronics, Inc. v. Garza, 257 S.W.3d 701, 51 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1104, 2008 Tex. LEXIS 619, 2008 WL 2554942 (Tex. 2008).

Opinions

Justice MEDINA

delivered the opinion of the Court.

Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code apportions responsibility among those responsible for damages in “any cause of action based on tort.” Tex. Crv. PRAC. & Rem.Code § 33.002(a)(1). In this appeal, we are asked whether a claim for breach of implied warranty under article 2 of the Texas Uniform Commercial Code1 is a tort claim to which Chapter 33’s apportionment scheme should apply. The court of appeals concluded that Chapter 33 did not apply to this type of claim because a “complete framework of rights and remedies for transacting parties” was already available under article 2 of the UCC. 176 S.W.3d 618, 633 (quoting Garcia v. Tex. Instruments, Inc., 610 S.W.2d 456, 461 (Tex. 1980)). We disagree and hold that a party who seeks damages for death or personal injury under a breach of implied warranty claim seeks damages in tort and is accordingly subject to Chapter 33.

I

On November 14, 1999, Rolando Domingo Montez was arrested for public intoxication and placed in the Port Isabel jail. The next day, Montez called his mother, Pearl Iriz Garza, to arrange his bail. Mon-tez made the call from his jail cell on a phone provided by JCW Electronics, Inc. (“JCW”). JCW had installed these collect-only telephones for inmate use under a 1998 contract with the Port Isabel Police Department. Tragically, on the day he was to be released, Montez was found dead in his cell, hanging from the telephone cord.

Garza sued the City of Port Isabel for her son’s death and subsequently joined [703]*703JCW as a defendant.2 The case was tried to a jury who generally found in Garza’s favor on claims of negligence, misrepresentation, and breach of implied warranty of fitness. The jury attributed sixty percent of the liability to Montez, twenty-five percent to the City of Port Isabel, and fifteen percent to JCW. JCW moved for judgment, arguing that the sixty percent finding of fault the jury attributed to Montez barred Garza’s recovery on all pleaded claims under Chapter 33. Garza, however, moved to disregard certain inconsistent jury findings and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, asking the court to render judgment against JCW for breach of contract and fraud. The trial court granted Garza’s motions, rendering judgment for her on these theories over JCWs objections.

The court of appeals declined to affirm the judgment under these theories, concluding that Garza’s contract claim had not been pled and her fraud claim was barred under Chapter 33. 176 S.W.3d at 625-26. The court of appeals concluded, however, that Garza’s judgment could be affirmed on the jury’s finding of breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose because there was evidence that JCW had represented to the Port Isabel Chief of Police that the telephones would be safe for “unattended or unsupervised use by inmates.” Id. at 630. In affirming the trial court’s judgment, the court rejected JCW’s contention that Chapter 33 barred Garza’s implied warranty claim. Id. at 632. The court of appeals held instead that Chapter 33 did not apply to a claim for breach of implied warranty, noting that “any extension of chapter 33’s proportionate responsibility scheme to UCC article 2 could potentially disrupt and override ‘the UCC’s express purpose of furthering uniformity among the states.’ ” Id. at 633 (quoting Sw. Bank v. Information Support Concepts, Inc., 149 S.W.3d 104, 110-11 (Tex.2004)). We granted review to consider whether Chapter 33’s proportionate responsibility scheme extends to a breach of implied warranty claim.

II

Over the past two decades, the Legislature has repeatedly modified the comparative fault rules in tort cases. In 1987, the Legislature replaced the existing statutory and common law schemes with Chapter 33’s comparative responsibility framework. See Act of June 3, 1987, 70th Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 2, §§ 2.03-2.11B, 1987 Tex. Gen. Laws 37, 40-44 (amended 1995). In 1995, the Legislature again amended Chapter 33 by replacing comparative responsibility with proportionate responsibility. See Act of May 8, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 136, § 1, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 971, 971-75 (amended 2003). Further amendments were made to the chapter in 2003. See Act of June 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 204, §§ 4.01-.12, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 847, 855-59 (codified as amended at Tex. Civ.PRAC. & Rem.Code §§ 33.001-017). Because of these repeated amendments, we must first identify which version of Chapter 33 governs this case. Here, the 1995 version of Chapter 33 applies because Garza’s son died on November 16, 1999.3

A

Garza argues that the Legislature intended to exclude implied warranty claims [704]*704from Chapter 33 when it replaced its comparative responsibility scheme, adopted in 1987, with proportionate responsibility in 1995. Garza’s argument rests on the deletion of a previous reference to implied warranty in the 1995 amendments. The 1987 version had expressly provided for the apportionment of responsibility in negligence, strict liability, and UCC article 2 breach of warranty claims when the damages sought were for personal injury, death, or property damage.4 See Act of June 3, 1987, 70th Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 2, § 2.04, 1987 Tex. Gen. Laws 37, 40 (codified as amended at Tex. Civ. Prao. & Rem. Code § 33.001(b) (1987)). The 1995 amendments, however, deleted mention of specific theories of liability, providing instead that the chapter should apply “to any cause of action based on tort in which a defendant, settling person, or responsible third party is found responsible for a percentage of the harm for which relief is sought.” See Act of May 8, 1995, 74th Leg., R. S., ch. 136, § 1, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 971, 971 (codified as amended at Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code § 33.002(a) (1995)) (emphasis added). Thus, Garza argues that a breach of implied warranty claim is not a “cause of action based on tort.”

Contrary to Garza’s argument, however, there is no indication that the Legislature intended to restrict the scope of Chapter 33 by explicitly removing implied warranties. On the contrary, the 1995 amendments expanded the chapter’s scope. Whereas the 1987 version had expressly excluded intentional torts, the 1995 amendments removed that exclusion. Id. And although the 1995 version ceased to identify specific liability theories such as negligence, products liability, and breach of implied warranty, it is nevertheless clear from the statute as a whole that the Legislature intended for Chapter 33 to continue to cover these claims under its broad pronouncement that “this chapter applies to any cause of action based on tort.” Id. (emphasis added).

Garza’s argument rests on the dubious proposition that breach of implied warranty is not, or can never be, “a cause of action based on tort.” This, of course, is contrary to Texas law. We have often recognized that “[ijmplied warranties are created by operation of law and are grounded more in tort than in contract.” La Sara Grain Co. v. First Nat’l Bank, 673 S.W.2d 558, 565 (Tex.1984); see also Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Inc. v. Lubbock County Hosp. Dist.,

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257 S.W.3d 701, 51 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1104, 2008 Tex. LEXIS 619, 2008 WL 2554942, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jcw-electronics-inc-v-garza-tex-2008.