Lucchese Boot Co. v. Solano

473 S.W.3d 404, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 7948, 2015 WL 4572252
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 29, 2015
DocketNo. 08-14-00229-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 473 S.W.3d 404 (Lucchese Boot Co. v. Solano) 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
Lucchese Boot Co. v. Solano, 473 S.W.3d 404, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 7948, 2015 WL 4572252 (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

YVONNE T. RODRIGUEZ, Justice

Appellants Lucchese Boot Company, Bartolo Mata, and Rigoberto Gutierrez seek reversal of the trial court’s order denying its motion to compel arbitration against former employee Jose Solano. We reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

In 2007, Solano filed a non-subscriber negligence suit against Lucchese after allegedly suffering three work-related injuries. Lucchese initially sought to compel arbitration against Solano under the terms of its Area Brands Texas Injury Ben'efit Plan (the Benefit Plan). The trial court denied Lucchese’s motion to compel Solano to arbitrate. Lucchese filed for a writ of mandamus compelling arbitration. We denied the writ on the basis that the Benefit Plan’s arbitration agreement was illusory. In re Lucchese, Inc., 324 S.W.3d 214, 215-16 (Tex.App.—El Paso 2010, orig. proceeding). • .

Lucchese next sought to compel arbitration based on a different agreement contained in its Problem Resolution Program (the Program). The trial court struck Lucchese’s motion on the basis that Luc-chese had either waived, or was estopped from asserting, its right to seek arbitration after initially seeking it under the Benefit Plan. Lucchese appealed, and we reversed the trial court’s strike order and reinstated Lucchese’s mótion, holding that Lucchese did not waive its right to seek arbitration and that it was not estopped from offering alternate bases for its arbitration request. Lucchese, Inc.v. Solano, 388 S.W.3d 343, 347 (Tex.App.—El Paso 2012, no pet.). On remand, the-trial court denied Lucchese’s motion to compel arbitration under ■ the Program.. Lucchese appealed. We have interlocutory jurisdiction to entertain this appeal- under Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 51.016 (West 2015).

DISCUSSION

In one issue, Appellant maintains the trial court erred by failing to compel arbitration, either because questions of - the [410]*410Program’s enforceability were reserved for the arbitrator alone or because Solano cannot present any valid contractual defenses against enforcement.1

Standard of Review

We review mixed questions 'of fact and law in arbitration cases such as this for abuse of . discretion, deferring to -the trial court’s factual determinations and reviewing pure questions of law de novo. Delfingen US-Tex., L.P., v. Valenzuela, 407 S.W.3d 791, 797 (Tex.App.—El Paso 2013; np pet.). We review the enforceability of an arbitration agreement de novo as a question of law. In re 24R, Inc., 324 S.W.3d 564, 566 (Tex.2010)(orig. proceeding).

“A party seeking to compel arbitration musti(l) establish the existence of a valid arbitration agreement; and (2) show that the .claims asserted are within- the scope of the agreement.” Delfingen, 407 S.W.3d at 797. A trial court abuses its discretion when it “refuses to compel arbitration under a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement[.]” In re 24R, Inc., 324 S.W.3d at 566.

Relevant Contract Language

To better ground our analysis, we set out -the following relevant excerpts of the Problem Resolution Program below:

Agreement to Submit Disputes to Arbitration. The Company and the Employee ... recognize that differences of opinion can, from time-to-time, ■ arise among individuals, including between an employee and his employer, and that, ultimately, some such disagreements can only be fairly resolved by a neutral decision-maker. ' The Company believes, however, that resort to a neutral Arbitrator is a legally-sanctioned alternative to the judicial system which is faker to the parties, yields a speedier final resolution, and is less expensive to both the Employee and the Company. The Company therefore establishes this Problem Resolution Program (the ‘Program’), waives its right to a trial before a judge or a jury in the event of any Covered Employment Dispute as defined below (hereinafter, ‘Covered Dispute’), and •agrees to submit any such dispute to final and binding arbitration. .In exchange -for this waiver of its rights, the Company requkes, as a condition of employment/continued employment, that each of its Employees waive his right to a trial before a judge or a jury in the event of any Covered Dispute.and agree to submit such dispute to final and binding arbitration. In other words, in the ' case of a Covered Dispute, the Company and the Employee agree to submit the Dispute to binding arbitration, unless both the Employee and the Company waive.such a right in writing prior to the initiation of any litigation arising, out of said Covered Dispute.
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Covered Disputes. ' Covered Disputes which are subject to the exclusive provisions of the Program include only those which involve legally-protected rights [411]*411which the Employee" may now or in the future have against the Company or its officers, directors, shareholders, employees, or agents in their personal or official capacities, as well as any claims which the.Company may now or in the future have against the Employee,, including, but not limited to, matters arising out of the application for employment or an employment termination, except as expressly excluded under the heading of “Claims Not Covered” below:
The disputes covered by the Program include, but are not limited to:
• claims for wrongful failure to hire;
• claims or breach of any contract, covenant, or warranty (express or implied);
• tort claims (including, but not limited to, claims for physical, mental or psychological injury, without regard to whether such injury was allegedly sustained in the course and scope of employment, and claims for defamation);
• claims for wrongful termination (including, but not limited to, retaliatory discharge claims under chapter 451 of the Texas Labor Code);
• claims for harassment, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment; .
-• claims for discrimination (including, but not limited to, claims based on race or color, national origin, religion, sex, age, medical condition or disability);
• claims for benefits under any employee benefit pMns sponsored by the" Company (after exhausting administrative remedies under the terms of such plans); and
• claims ‘for violations of any other noncriminal federal, state, or other governmental law, statute, regulation * or ordinance.
■ This ■ includes . -claims - which are brought by or against Employee or his representatives, successors, spouse or heirs.
Claims Not Covered. The only claims or disputes not covered by the Program are as follows: ' ' ’
1. any claim by Employee for benefits under a plan or program which provides its own arbitration procedure;
2. any criminal complaint or proceeding;
3. restitution by an employee for a criminal act for which he has been foimd.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
473 S.W.3d 404, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 7948, 2015 WL 4572252, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lucchese-boot-co-v-solano-texapp-2015.