the Texas Workforce Commission v. the Harris County Appraisal District

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 29, 2014
Docket14-14-00631-CV
StatusPublished

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Opinion

ACCEPTED 14-14-00631-CV FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 12/29/2014 5:34:01 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK

No. 14-14-00631-CV

IN THE FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS, FILED IN 14th COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS HOUSTON, TEXAS 12/29/2014 5:34:01 PM CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION, Clerk

Appellant,

v.

HARRIS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT,

Appellee.

Appealed from the 55th District Court of Harris County, Texas District Court Cause No. 2012-34688 Hon. Jeff Shadwick, Presiding

BRIEF OF APPELLANT TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION

GREG ABBOTT ALISON ANDREWS Attorney General of Texas Assistant Attorney General Financial Litigation, Tax, and Charitable DANIEL T. HODGE Trusts Division First Assistant Attorney General State Bar No. 24059381 PO Box 12548 DAVID C. MATTAX Austin, Texas 78711 Deputy Attorney General for TEL: (512) 475-1747 Defense Litigation FAX: (512) 478-4013 alison.andrews@texasattorneygeneral.gov ROBERT O’KEEFE Chief, Financial Litigation, Tax, and ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Charitable Trusts Division

ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED IDENTITY OF PARTIES AND COUNSEL

Appellant's Counsel Counsel for Additional Parties to Trial Court Judgment Alison Andrews Assistant Attorney General J. C. Loftis State Bar No. 24059381 P. O. Box 88135 Assistant Attorney General Houston, TX 77288-0135 Office of the Attorney General ATTORNEY FOR VALLEDA CRUMP Financial Litigation, Tax, and Charitable Trusts Division Donald DeMoss P.O. Box 12548 5300 Memorial Drive, 650 Austin, Texas 78711-2548 Houston, TX 77007 Tel: (512) 475-1747 ATTORNEY FOR RONALD HASTIK Fax: (512) 478-4013 ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT Lynne M. Jurek TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION Albany L. Willis Kelley, Kronenberg, Gilmartin, Fichtel, Appellees' Counsel Wander, Bamdas, Eskalyo & Dunbrack P.A. Brian J. Begle 1001 McKinney Street, Suite 300 Paula Alexander Houston, TX 77002 Olson & Olson, L.L.P. ATTORNEY FOR LAURA BASS Wortham Tower, Suite 600 2727 Allen Parkway Unrepresented Additional Parties Houston, Texas 77019-2133 ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE HARRIS Charles E. McKirahan COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT Dempsey Wells Michael Marshall Diane Jobin Monarchie Clay Melia J. Wichmann Phil Ross Janet Sheffield Reese Buggs Gerald Chrisenberry Cynthia A. Spooner Forrest Cresswell

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Identity of the Parties ............................................................................................. ii

Index of Authorities .................................................................................................v

Statement of the Case ..............................................................................................1

Issues Presented........................................................................................................1

Statement of Facts ....................................................................................................2

Summary of Argument ............................................................................................7

Argument ..................................................................................................................9

I. The trial court incorrectly treated the HCAD employee question as dispositive of all issues, and setting aside the TWC decisions on this basis constituted error by awarding more relief than was requested.

II. The only question before the Court is whether substantial evidence supports the TWC decisions.

III. The trial court erred in setting aside the TWC decisions ruling the ARB members were in HCAD’s employment because substantial evidence supports those decisions.

A. Members of the ARB are in HCAD’s employment under the general definition in TUCA. B. TUCA contains no exception to employment for members of appraisal review boards and the Legislature explicitly rejected a proposal to add such a provision. C. Members of the ARB do not qualify for the exception for members of the judiciary.

IV. The trial court erred in setting aside the TWC decisions on all issues other than whether the ARB members were in HCAD’s employment because substantial evidence supports those decisions.

iii A. The ARB members filed valid claims for benefits. B. Because the claimants became unemployed through no fault of their own, TWC properly ruled they were qualified for benefits.

Prayer ......................................................................................................................20

Certificate of Compliance......................................................................................22

Certificate of Service..............................................................................................22

Appendix .................................................................................................................36 Tab 1-House Bill No. 982 Tab 2-Unemployment Insurance Program Letter Tab 3-S.B. No. 432 Tab 4-House Journal Tab 5-HB No. 585 Tab 6-Final Judgment Tab 7-Tex. Lab. Code §212.201 Tab 8-Tex. Lab. Code §212.202 Tab 9-Tex. Lab. Code §201.041 Tab 10-40 Tex. Adm. Code §821.5

iv INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

CASES Barnett v. Texas Employment Comm’n,...................................................................18 510 S.W.2d 361, 363 (Tex. Civ. App.—Austin 1974, writ ref’d n.r.e.)

Bradley v. State ex rel. White, ..................................................................................27 990 S.W.2d 245 (Tex. 1999)

City of Houston v. Tippy, ..................................................................................15, 19 991 S.W.2d 330, 334 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, no pet.)

Collingsworth Gen. Hosp. v. Hunnicut, .................................................................14 988 S.W.2d 706, 708 (Tex. 1998)

Critical Health Connection, Inc. v. Tex. Workforce Comm'n,.................................18 338 S.W.3d 758, 766-767 (Tex. App.—Austin 2011, no pet.)

Dotson v. Tex. State Bd. of Med. Examiners,...........................................................14 612 S.W.2d 921, 922 (Tex. 1981).

Dozier v. Tex. Emp. Comm’n, ..................................................................................14 41 S.W.3d 304, 309 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2001, no pet.)

G&H Towing Co. v. Magee, ......................................................................................9 347 S.W.3d 293, 297 (Tex. 2011)

Elgohary v. Texas Workforce Comm'n, No. 14–09–00108–CV,.............................13 2010 WL 2326126, at *2 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] June 10, 2010, no pet.) (mem. op.)

Firemen’s & Policemen’s Civil Serv. Comm’n v. Brinkmeyer, ...............................14 662 S.W.2d 953, 956 (Tex.

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990 S.W.2d 245 (Texas Supreme Court, 1999)
Texas Employment Commission v. Camacho
394 S.W.2d 35 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1965)
Collingsworth General Hospital v. Hunnicutt
988 S.W.2d 706 (Texas Supreme Court, 1998)
Mercer v. Ross
701 S.W.2d 830 (Texas Supreme Court, 1986)
Dotson v. Texas State Board of Medical Examiners
612 S.W.2d 921 (Texas Supreme Court, 1981)
Critical Health Connection, Inc. v. Texas Workforce Commission
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State v. Kenyon, Inc.
153 S.W.2d 195 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1941)

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