Ridgway's, Inc. v. Payne

853 S.W.2d 659, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 815, 1993 WL 81241
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 25, 1993
DocketB14-92-00593-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 853 S.W.2d 659 (Ridgway's, Inc. v. Payne) 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
Ridgway's, Inc. v. Payne, 853 S.W.2d 659, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 815, 1993 WL 81241 (Tex. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

MURPHY, Justice.

Appellee, Louise Payne, individually and as Independent Executrix of the Estate of her late husband, George H. Payne, Jr., brought suit against appellant, Ridgway’s, Inc., alleging age discrimination in the terms of appellant's employee benefits plan. Specifically, appellee alleged discrimination because the terms of appellant’s plan provide reduced life insurance benefits for employees over the age of sixty-five. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of appellee, and appellant appeals in four points of error. We reverse and render judgment in favor of appellant.

George H. Payne, Jr., was an employee of Ridgway’s until his death on April 25, 1989. At the time of his death, George Payne was a participant in the Ridgway’s Employee Benefit Program (the “Plan”). The Plan was funded in June, 1986 by a group term life insurance policy and a group medical insurance policy. Louise Payne was the designated beneficiary of George Payne’s life insurance policy. Employees under the Plan receive reduced death benefits after age sixty-five. For employees who are between ages sixty-five and seventy at the time of their deaths, the Plan provides that death benefits are reduced by thirty-five percent, from $100,000 to $65,000. George Payne was sixty-six at the time of his death, and his benefits were reduced in accordance with the terms of the policy. Louise Payne received and accepted $65,000 in death benefits on June 6, 1989. She subsequently brought suit for $35,000, the difference between the amount she received and the amount she claims she would have received if not for the alleged discrimination.

Appellee’s suit was brought solely for violation of the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5221k (Vernon 1987 & Supp.1993) (CHRA). 1 Both the Texas statute, and the federal statute after which it was patterned, make it unlawful to discriminate with respect to employment on the basis of race, color, handicap, religion, sex, national origin, or age. However, the CHRA contains exemptions to the general prohibition against employment discrimination, as follows:

it is not an unlawful employment practice for an employer to apply different standards of compensation or different terms, conditions or privileges of employment under a ... bona fide employee benefit plan, such as a retirement, pension, or insurance plan, which is not a subterfuge to evade this Act.

Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5221k § 5.07(a)(3) (Vernon Supp.1993). 2

*662 Appellee filed a motion for summary judgment, supported by an affidavit from Louise Payne. Appellee argued that the state anti-discrimination law should be applied in accordance with current federal law, making appellant’s Plan in violation of the CHRA as a matter of law. Appellant responded to the motion, and also brought a counter-motion for summary judgment, supported by affidavits from two employees, Yandell Rogers, Jr., its president, and Elvin Geisselbrecht, its secretary-treasurer. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of appellee, implicitly denying appellant’s motion.

The standard to be followed in review of a summary judgment is well established:

1. The movant for summary judgment has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
2. In deciding whether or not there is a disputed material fact issue precluding summary judgment, evidence favorable to the non-movant will be taken as true.
3. Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the non-movants and any doubts resolved in their favor.

Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985).

The movant must establish his entitlement to summary judgment on the issues expressly presented to the trial court by conclusively proving all essential elements of his cause of action or defense as a matter of law. City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Auth., 589 S.W.2d 671, 678 (Tex.1979). A summary judgment must stand on its own merits; the non-movant need not respond to the motion to contend on appeal that it is insufficient as a matter of law to support summary judgment. Id. at 678. However, the non-movant must expressly present to the trial court any other ground that would defeat the mov-ant’s right to a summary judgment by filing a written answer or response to the motion, and if he fails to do so, he may not later assign any new ground as error on appeal. Id. at 678-79.

When both parties move for summary judgment and one motion is granted and the other is overruled, all questions presented to the trial court may be presented for consideration on appeal, including whether the losing party’s motion should have been overruled. Jones v. Strauss, 745 S.W.2d 898, 900 (Tex.1988); Tobin v. Garcia, 159 Tex. 58, 316 S.W.2d 396, 400-01 (1958). On appeal, the party appealing the denial of the motion for summary judgment must properly preserve this error by raising as a point of error the failure of the trial court to grant the appellant’s motion. Holmquist v. Occidental Life Ins. Co., 536 S.W.2d 434, 438 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1976, writ ref’d n.r.e.). When the losing party appeals, and the appellate court finds reversible error in the summary judgment, after reviewing all questions presented, the court may reverse the trial court and render such judgment as the trial court should have rendered, including rendering judgment for the other movant. Jones, 745 S.W.2d at 900.

First, we address appellee’s contention that appellant’s counter-motion for summary judgment is not supported by competent summary judgment proof. Ap-pellee complains that the jurats on appellant’s affidavits supporting its response and counter-motion are defective. However, appellee did not raise this argument in her response to the counter-motion for summary judgment. Rule 166a(f) provides “defects in the form of affidavits or attachments will not be grounds for reversal unless specifically pointed out by objection by an opposing party with opportunity, but refusal to amend.” Tex.R.Civ.P. 166a(f); See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Penn, 363 S.W.2d 230, 233 (Tex.1962). This requirement is applicable whether the defect is urged as grounds for affirmance or reversal of a summary judgment. Walkoviak v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 580 S.W.2d 623, 626-27 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.). Therefore,

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Bluebook (online)
853 S.W.2d 659, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 815, 1993 WL 81241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ridgways-inc-v-payne-texapp-1993.