Texas Workforce Commission v. Harris County Appraisal District

488 S.W.3d 843, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3296, 2016 WL 1267893
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 31, 2016
DocketNO. 14-14-00631-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 488 S.W.3d 843 (Texas Workforce Commission v. Harris County Appraisal District) 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
Texas Workforce Commission v. Harris County Appraisal District, 488 S.W.3d 843, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3296, 2016 WL 1267893 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

J. Brett Busby, Justice

This case stems from the Texas Workforce Commission’s award of unemployment benefits to several former members of the Harris County Appraisal Review Board. Appellant Texas Workforce Commission challenges the trial court’s orders denying the Commission’s motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment in favor of appellee Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD). The [846]*846Commission argues that the trial court erred by setting aside entirely the Commission’s decisions awarding unemployment benefits to the former Board members because in doing so, the trial court granted relief that was not requested. The Commission also contends that the trial court erred in granting HCAD’s motion for summary judgment and denying the Commission’s motion'because substantial evidence supports the Commission’s unemployment decisions.

We hold that the Board members do not fall within .an exception for services rendered as a member of the judiciary and that substantial evidence supports the Commission’s decisions that the Board members received wages from HCAD for employment. We therefore reverse the trial court’s summary judgment and render judgment in the Commission’s favor. Because we do so, we need not address whether the trial court granted more relief than requested.in its order setting aside the Commission’s unemployment decisions.

BACKGROUND

The Harris County Appraisal Review Board was created by the Legislature to provide, among other things, an administrative remedy for property owners who wish to protest appraisals by HCAD. E.g., Tex. Tax Code Ann. § 41.01 (West 2015). Board members hear and determine property tax disputes.

Each of the former Board members in this case named HCAD as a former employer when filing a claim for unemployment benefits.1 The Texas Workforce Commission subsequently awarded unemployment benefits to the former Board members, ruling that they qualified as employees of HCAD under the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act (Chapters 201-215 of the Labor Code) and that HCAD’s account would be charged for the benefits. Many of the unemployment decisions also contained rulings -that the former members correctly identified their last work and were not separated from their last work due to misconduct.2 The Commission concluded that, the Board members were eligible for unemployment compensation. ...

In particular, the Commission’s Appeal Tribunal found the following facts regarding the relationship between HCAD and the Board members:

The HCAD does a background check on prospective [Board] appointees to assist the' [Administrative] Distinct Judge in his appointment of individuals to the [Board]. From the pool of [Board] members appointed by the District Judge, the Board of Directors of the HCAD designates a Chairman, who controls assignment of [Board] members as needed to three-member panels for hearing property owner protests.
The SCAD pays for the mandatory training of [Board] members for their job duties and provides space and clerical support for [Board] activities, which ‘ are conducted on HCAD premises. The HCAD mandates úse of its timekeeping [847]*847system by [Board] members and pays [Board] members from the HCAD budget at a rate set by the HCAD. The HCAD withholds money from [Board] member paychecks and provides a W-2 form to [Board] members for tax purposes.
[Board] members can resign their appointment at any time without economic penalty. [Board] members are precluded from pursuing outside activities that would conflict with their [Board] duties.

Based on these findings, the Appeal Tribunal concluded that “[t]he relationship between the HCAD and the [Board] members is that of Employer/Employee because the HCAD exercises extensive control and direction over the work done by the ARB members.” The Tribunal then reached the following conclusions regarding “the manner in which the control is exercised”:

• HCAD performs background checks on prospective [Board] members.
• HCAD designates the Director of the [Board], who controls assignments for [Board] members,
• HCAD pays [Board] members using the HCAD timekeeping system.
• HCAD pays [Board] members from the HCAD budget at a rate set by the HCAD.
• HCAD withholds money from [Board] paychecks.
• HCAD issues W-2 form to [Board] members.
• HCAD pays for the training of [Board] members.
• HCAD provides clerical support and equipment for use by [Board] members.
• HCAD and [Board] members have a continuing relationship. .

The Commission affirmed the Appeal Tribunal and adopted these findings and conclusions.

After exhausting its administrative remedies,' HCAD filed lawsuits against each of the former Board members seeking judicial review of the Commission’s decisions.3 The cases were later consolidated. The Commission filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that the Board members were HCAD’s employees and substantial evidence supported the Commission’s determination that the Board members were qualified for unemployment benefits. HCAD filed an amended motion for summary judgment asserting only that the Board members'were not its employees.4 Each side then filed a response to the other’s motion.

The trial court granted HCAD’s motion and denied the Commission’s motion. In its order denying the Commission’s motion, the trial court -wrote that it “sets aside” the Commission’s unemployment decisions awarding benefits to the former Board members. The Commission filed a motion for new trial. After a hearing, the trial court denied the motion. The Commission challenges these rulings in this appeal.

Analysis

The Commission presents three issues on appeal. In its first issue, the Commission asserts that the trial court erred in treating the question whether Board members were employees of HCAD as disposi-tive of all issues and thus setting aside in their entirety the Commission’s decisions [848]*848awarding unemployment benefits to former Board members. The Commission contends that in doing so, the trial court awarded more relief than was requested in HCAD’s motion for summary judgment, in which HCAD asserted only that the Board members were not HCAD. employees and did not seek to foreclose benefits that might be available on some other basis.

The Commission also argues in its second and.third issues, that the .trial court erred in granting HCAD’s motion for sum- . mary judgment and denying the Commission’s motion because substantial evidence supports the Commission’s unemployment decisions. Because we agree that the Commission was, entitled to summary judgment, we need not address whether the trial court granted more relief than requested in its order denying the. Commission’s motion for summary judgment. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.1.

I. Standard of review

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Related

In re Pioneer Carriers, LLC
583 B.R. 891 (S.D. Texas, 2018)
Harris County Appraisal District v. Texas Workforce Commission
519 S.W.3d 113 (Texas Supreme Court, 2017)
Tochril, Inc. v. Texas Workforce Commission
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
488 S.W.3d 843, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3296, 2016 WL 1267893, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-workforce-commission-v-harris-county-appraisal-district-texapp-2016.