La Joya Independent School District v. Tanya Gonzalez, Individually and A/N/F of Josue Rogelio Uranga, Minor

532 S.W.3d 892
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided November 2, 2017·No. NUMBER 13-16-00426-CV·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice Contreras

This is an appeal from the trial court’s denial of a plea to the jurisdiction filed by appellant La Joya Independent School District (the District). Appellee Tanya Gonzalez, individually and as next friend of Josué Rogelio Uranga, a deceased minor, sued the District after an accident that resulted in Úranga’s death. By three issues, the District contends the trial court erred in denying its plea to the jurisdiction because: (1) it did not receive timely notice of the claim as required by the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA); (2) there was no operation or use of a motor vehicle and therefore no waiver of immunity under the TTCA; and (3) there was no causal nexus between any alleged operation or use of a motor vehicle and Uranga’s death. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §§ 101.021, .101 (West, Westlaw through 2017 1st C.S.). We affirm.

I. Background

Gonzalez alleged the following in her live petition. On October 23, 2012, a District school bus driven by District employee Salvador Rodriguez Jr. stopped at a designated bus stop at the intersection of Santos Ramirez Street and U.S. Expressway 83 in La Joya, Texas. Uranga, a 13-year-old student who was usually picked up at that location, was not at the bus stop, and thé bus departed. Rodriguez turned the bus into the crossover between the expressway’s main lanes, but when he saw Uranga approaching the bus stop on foot, Rodriguez stopped the bus and activated its flashing warning lights. Gonzalez claims the bus’s flashing warning lights signaled to Uranga that it was safe to cross the expressway. As Uranga crossed the expressway, he was struck by a vehicle driven by Jaime Venecia; Uranga died at the scene. Gonzalez sued Venecia and the District. As to the District, Gonzalez alleged that Rodriguez, while in the course and scope of his employment, acted negligently by failing to follow protocols and procedures for the safe' loading of students' “by creating a non-designated bus stop” and activating the bus’s flashing lights. Gonzalez alleged that Uranga’s death was proxi-rnately caused by Rodriguez’s wrongful acts and omissions, and that the District was vicariously liable.

The District filed a plea to the jurisdiction arguing that it was immune to suit as a governmental entity .and that its immunity was not waived by the TTCA because: (1) the accident did not arise out of the operation or use of a motor vehicle; and (2) Gonzalez failed to provide the District with notice as required under the statute. See id. § 101.101. The District attached no evidence in support of its plea. In response, Gonzalez argued that Rodriguez’s actions of driving the bus into the crossover, stopping it there, and activating its flashing warning lights were affirmative acts involving the operation or use of a vehicle, and the District’s immunity was therefore waived. See id. § 101.021. Further, although Gonzalez conceded that' no written notice had 'been provided to the District, she asserted that the’District had actual notice of her claim.

Following, two hearings, the trial court denied the District’s plea to the jurisdiction. This accelerated interlocutory appeal followed. See id. § 51.014(a)(8) (West, Westlaw through 2017 1st C.S.) (allowing a governmental unit to. immediately appeal an interlocutory order denying a plea to the jurisdiction).

After the parties filed their initial briefs, we noted that the jurisdictional evidence before the trial court included a video recording containing conversations in Spanish, but that the recording was not part of the appellate record. Therefore, we abated the appeal and remanded for supplementation of the appellate record with a transcription and translation'of the recording. The supplemental record was filed with this Court on August 3, 2017, the parties filed supplemental briefs, and we reinstated the appeal.

II. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

A plea to the jurisdiction is a dilatory plea used to defeat a cause óf action without regard to whether the claims asserted have merit. Bland Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 554 (Tex. 2000). The plea challenges the trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction. Id.; see Tex. Dep’t of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638 (Tex. 1999).

The plaintiff has the initial burden to plead facts affirmatively showing that the trial court has jurisdiction. Tex. Ass’n of Bus. v. Tex. Air Control Bd., 852 S.W.2d 440, 446 (Tex. 1993); Univ. of N. Tex. v. Harvey, 124 S.W.3d 216, 220 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2003, pet. denied). Whether a trial court has subject matter jurisdiction and whether the pleader has alleged facts that affirmatively demonstrate the trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction are questions of law that we review de novo. Tex. Dep’t of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217, 226 (Tex. 2004); Tex. Nat. Res. Conservation Comm’n v. IT-Davy, 74 S.W.3d 849, 855 (Tex. 2002). We construe the pleadings liberally in favor of the pleader, look to the pleader’s intent, and accept as true the factual allegations in the pleadings. See Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 226, 228.

When a plea to the jurisdiction challenges the existence of jurisdictional facts, we consider relevant evidence submitted by the parties when necessary to resolve the jurisdictional issues raised, even when the evidence implicates the merits of the cause of action. Id. at 227; Blue, 34 at 555; see City of Waco v. Kirwan, 298 S.W.3d 618, 622 (Tex. 2009). If the evidence is undisputed or fails to raise a fact question on the jurisdictional issue, the trial court rules on the plea to the jurisdiction as a matter of law. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 228. But if the evidence creates a fact question regarding the jurisdictional issue, then the trial court cannot grant the plea to the jurisdiction, and the fact issue will be resolved by the fact finder. Id. at 227-28. In considering the evidence, we take as true all evidence favorable to the non-movant and indulge every reasonable inference and resolve any doubts in the non-movant’s favor. Id.

A defendant cannot simply deny the existence of jurisdictional facts and force the plaintiff to raise a fact issue. See Johnson v. Brewer & Pritchard, P.C., 73 S.W.3d 193, 207 (Tex. 2002). In other words, a defendant may not advance a “no-evidence” plea to the jurisdiction. See id.; cf. Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(i) (allowing for no-evidence motion for summary judgment).

B. Applicable Law

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La Joya Independent School District v. Tanya Gonzalez, Individually and A/N/F of Josue Rogelio Uranga, Minor, 532 S.W.3d 892 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

532 S.W.3d 892 (La Joya Independent School District v. Tanya Gonzalez, Individually and A/N/F of Josue Rogelio Uranga, Minor) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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