Marshall v. Sackett

907 S.W.2d 925, 1995 WL 555900
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 5, 1995
Docket01-94-01228-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 907 S.W.2d 925 (Marshall v. Sackett) 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
Marshall v. Sackett, 907 S.W.2d 925, 1995 WL 555900 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION

HUTSON-DUNN, Justice.

This is an appeal from the denial and denial in part of a joint motion for summary judgment filed by the appellants, Suzette Marshall and Harris County Child Protective Services, defendants in the trial court below. See Tex.Civ.PRAc. & Rem.Code Ann. § 51.014(5) (Vernon Supp.1995) (person may appeal interlocutory order of district court that denies motion for summary judgment based upon assertion of official immunity). The issue before this Court is whether the defendants conclusively proved their affirmative defenses of official and sovereign immunity in a ease arising out of the investigation of a report alleging the medical neglect of a child. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and render judgment in favor of the defendants as to all of the causes of action presented before this Court for review.

I. Summary of Facts

On February 26, 1991, Richard Hurwitz, M.D., reported to Harris County Child Protective Services (HCCPS) that Steven and Olga Saekett were medically neglecting their child Sarah. Dr. Hurwitz said that Sarah had stage III large cell lymphoma, a type of cancer, and her parents refused to subject her to the treatment necessary to save her life. HCCPS conducted an investigation that led to the filing of a petition to affect the parent-child relationship in district court. In the petition, HCCPS sought appointment as managing conservator of Sarah pursuant to Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 14.01(a) (Vernon 1995).1 HCCPS asserted that the appointment of the Sacketts as Sarah’s managing conservators would not be in Sarah’s best interest because the appointment would significantly impair her physical health. HCCPS also requested the court to grant the following immediate relief after a show cause hearing:

(1) to appoint HCCPS as temporary managing conservator of Sarah;
(2) to appoint the Sacketts as temporary possessory conservator of Sarah;
(3) to order the Sacketts to pay child support during the pendency of the suit;
(4) to enjoin the Sacketts from interfering in any way with HCCPS’s possession of [928]*928Sarah by taking or attempting to take possession of her; and
(5) to enjoin the Sacketts from removing Sarah from Harris County.

At the first show cause hearing, Joe Reynolds, the Sacketts’ attorney, stated that Mr. Sackett believed that Dr. Hurwitz was not competent to treat Sarah. He further stated that Mr. Sackett did not object to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston treating Sarah, but he wanted the case dismissed. Reynolds stated that Sarah was receiving treatment for her cancer in Mexico, and Mrs. Sackett would not bring Sarah back to Texas because she feared that HCCPS would take Sarah. The parties agreed that Sarah’s protocol would be reviewed by doctors at M.D. Anderson to determine if it was appropriate for her type of cancer. The show cause hearing was reset for a later date.

After a series of hearings, the court held another show cause hearing from May 14 through 16, 1991. Dr. Ernesto Contreras, Sarah’s treating physician in Mexico, testified by phone on behalf of the Sacketts that his treatment was appropriate for Sarah. However, Archie Bleyer, M.D., a doctor at M.D. Anderson, and Dr. Hurwitz both testified that Dr. Contreras’s treatment was ineffective and specified what they thought was the proper treatment for Sarah’s disease. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court ordered that Sarah return to Mexico for further treatment. The court requested the Sacketts to return Sarah to M.D. Anderson after her treatment in Mexico for evaluation of her progress. The show cause hearing was continued until May 30, 1991. •

At the May 30 show cause hearing, the court requested a doctor from M.D. Anderson to evaluate Sarah’s progress after her return from Mexico. The doctor stated that M.D. Anderson would not examine Sarah because she was undergoing inadequate treatment, and M.D. Anderson did not want to assume responsibility for her health. The court denied HCCPS’s petition at the final show cause hearing on June 19, 1991, and it dismissed the case for want of prosecution on January 13, 1992.

A. The Pleadings

The Sacketts filed suit against HCCPS and one of its program directors, Suzette Marshall, for the manner in which the defendants investigated the medical neglect allegations.2 In their seventh amended petition, the Sack-etts claimed that HCCPS and Marshall attempted to take Sarah in order to subject her to experimental medical treatment under the care of Dr. Hurwitz, a physician that the Sacketts did not trust. The Sacketts alleged that Dr. Hurwitz reported them to HCCPS in retaliation for taking their daughter elsewhere for medical treatment. They claimed that their fear of losing Sarah prior to the trial court’s dismissal of HCCPS’s petition forced them to flee to Mexico. The Sacketts sought damages against HCCPS for emotional distress, disruption of medical treatment, and unnecessary travel and housing expenses, based upon the following causes of action:

(1) Negligence in not fulfilling its duty to adequately investigate the alleged claims of neglect in violation of Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 34.05 (Vernon 1986 & Supp.1995),3 and in refusing to discontinue the investigation;
(2) negligent use of telephones and file papers pursuant to the Texas Tort Claims Act. See Tex.Civ.PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 101.021(2) (Vernon 1986);
(3) violation of the Sacketts’ privacy rights pursuant to article 1, section 19 of the Texas Constitution. Tex Const, art. 1, § 19; and
(4) violation of the Sacketts’ “liberty interest,” damaging their reputations, and jeop[929]*929ardizing their future employment by placing their names in the HCCPS central registry, for which the Saeketts sought attorney’s fees pursuant to the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act. Tex.Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 37.009 (Vernon 1986).

The Saeketts also asserted these causes of action against Marshall.

In their answer, the defendants generally denied the Saeketts’ claims and asserted the affirmative defenses of sovereign and official immunity.

B. The Motions

The defendants jointly moved for summary judgment. Marshall moved for summary judgment as to all claims pursuant to the commonlaw doctrine of official immunity. HCCPS alleged that the Saeketts’ claims were barred by sovereign immunity under the Texas Tort Claims Act. Tex.Civ.PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 101.021(2) (Vernon 1986). HCCPS also asserted sovereign immunity based upon Marshall’s official immunity. See DeWitt v. Harris County, 904 S.W.2d 650, 654-55 (Tex.1995) (governmental entity is not liable under section 101.021(2) of Civil Practice and Remedies Code for the negligence of its employee when the employee has no liability because of official immunity).

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Marshall v. Sackett
907 S.W.2d 925 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
907 S.W.2d 925, 1995 WL 555900, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marshall-v-sackett-texapp-1995.