Patrick Olajide Akinwamide v. Transportation Insurance Company, CNA Insurance Company and Automatic Data Processing Inc.

499 S.W.3d 511, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 7214, 2016 WL 3662696
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 7, 2016·No. NO. 01-15-00066-CV·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

OPINION

Evelyn V. Keyes, Justice

In this workers’ compensation coverage dispute, Patrick Olajide Akinwamide, first sued Transportation Insurance Company, CNA Insurance Company, and Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (collectively, “the defendants”) in 1997, challenging the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission’s denial of his claim for workers’ compensation benefits. After a jury trial, in which the jury found that Akinwamide failed to timely appeal the denial of benefits, the trial court rendered á take-nothing judgment against him in 2000, In August 2014, Ak-inwamide filed a motion to set aside the 2000 judgment, arguing that the judgment was void because the trial court had lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the case. The trial court ruled that it did not have plenary power to consider the motion, that Akinwamide’s motion was a frivolous pleading that was filed for an improper purpose, and that Akinwamide was a vexatious litigant. The trial court ■ declared Akinwamide a vexatious litigant and imposed a total of $3,000 in sanctions—$2,500 payable to the defendants and $500 payable to the court.

In ten issues, Akinwamide challenges the trial court’s ruling, contending: (1) his original petition did not affirmatively invoke the trial court’s subject-matter jurisdiction; (2) the trial court lacked subject- *516 matter jurisdiction because his employer did not present proof that it had workers’ compensation coverage; (3) the' trial court had plenary power to hear his motion to set aside the judgment, dismiss his statutory claim for workers’ compensation benefits, and proceed with his common-law causes of action “until final resolution”; (4) the trial court erred in determining that res judicata and collateral estoppel barred his common-law claims; (5) the defendants’ motion to declare him a vexatious litigant and motion for sanctions was not legally sufficient; (6) the trial court failed to enter an order describing his specific conduct that yiolated Rule of Civil Procedure 13 and Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 10; (7) the trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law were not legally and factually sufficient to support its order imposing sanctions and declaring him a vexatious litigant; (8) he was not provided with a full and complete reporter’s record of the sanctions hearing; (9) the trial court erred in sanctioning him under Rule 13 and Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapters 10 and 11; and (10) the trial court erred in declaring him a vexatious litigant.

We affirm.

Background

This dispute began in 1989. At that time, Akinwamide was employed at Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (“ADP”), which had a workers’ compensation insurance policy with Transportation Insurance Company- (“Transportation”). 1 Akinwam-ide alleged that on October 15, 1989, he “sustained accidental injuries to-his lungs and respiratory system” due to secondhand smoke exposure while at work. Ak-inwamide eventually filed a claim with the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission (“the Commission”).

On August 14, 1997, the Commission rendered a final decision which included a finding that “on the date of injury said employer [ADP] was either a subscriber, authorized self-insured, or had provided workers’ compensation coverage in Texas by virtue of Article 8308, Section 18, [Revised Civil Statutes].” The Commission also found “[t]hat the evidence submitted fails to establish that [Akinwamide] sustained a compensable injury in the course of employment with [ADP] herein as alleged.” The Commission denied Akin-wamide’s claim. The order informed Akin-wamide that if he was dissatisfied with the award he must “give the Commission written notice within twenty (20) days from the date the award is entered and, in addition [he] must within twenty (20) days after giving such notice, bring suit in a proper court to perfect the appeal.”

Akinwamide filed suit against Transportation, challenging the Commission’s denial of his claim, in 1997. His original petition included the following paragraph:

At the time of the injuries herein complained of, [Transportation] had in full force and effect a policy of workers’ compensation insurance with the employer of [Akinwamide], [ADP], which policy of insurance insured [Akinwam-ide] in the job upon which he was working in accordance with the provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act of Texas. At all of the times material to this suit, [Akinwamide’s] employer, [ADP], was eligible to be a subscriber under the Workers’ Compensation Act of Texas.

Akinwamide stated that he “file[d] this suit herein to further prosecute his claim for *517 workers’ compensation insurance,” and he “allege[d] that all conditions precedent to the maintenance of this suit had been met.”

In June 2000, shortly before the case went to trial, Akinwamide, acting pro se, amended his original petition in a document entitled “Plaintiffs First Amended Original Petition Alternative Pleadings.” In this pleading, Akinwamide alleged that ADP did not have a workers’ compensation insurance policy with Transportation, that it was not a workers’ compensation subscriber, and that he was not covered under the Workers’ Compensation Act at the time of his injuries. Akinwamide asserted several common-law causes of- action against the defendants, “if necessary and in the alternative,” including fraud, misrepresentation, and negligence. The trial court overruled Akinwamide’s motion to try his ease under common-law theories.

At trial, the jury found that Akinwamide “did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he timely appealed from the Ruling and Decision of the Industrial Accident Board of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission,” and as a result, the Commission’s determination that Akin-wamide did not sustain a compensable injury “became final and is correct.” The trial court entered a take-nothing judgment against Akinwamide, which included a statement that “[a]ll relief requested, but not expressly granted herein[,] is DENIED.” The trial court signed the final judgment on August 9, 2000 (“the 2000 judgment”).

Akinwamide moved for a new trial. Among other things, Akinwamide argued that ADP did not have an active workers’ compensation insurance policy at the time of his alleged injury. Akinwamide appealed the 2000 judgment, and the appeal was assigned to the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals. In affirming the trial court’s judgment, the court held that Akinwamide “failed to prove that ADP was a nonsub-scriber to workers’ compensation insurance which was a prerequisite to the proposed fraud or negligence common law suit against ADP.” Akinwamide v. Transp. Ins. Co., 147 S.W.3d 623, 627 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2004, no pet.) (‘‘Akinwamide /”). The Corpus Christi Court also held that sufficient evidence existed that Transportation “was the workers’ compensation carrier for ADP at the time of [Akinwamide’s] alleged injury.” Id.

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Patrick Olajide Akinwamide v. Transportation Insurance Company, CNA Insurance Company and Automatic Data Processing Inc., 499 S.W.3d 511, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 7214, 2016 WL 3662696 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

499 S.W.3d 511 (Patrick Olajide Akinwamide v. Transportation Insurance Company, CNA Insurance Company and Automatic Data Processing Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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