University of Texas at Austin v. Hayes

279 S.W.3d 877, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 1606, 2009 WL 564165
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 6, 2009
Docket03-06-00581-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 279 S.W.3d 877 (University of Texas at Austin v. Hayes) 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
University of Texas at Austin v. Hayes, 279 S.W.3d 877, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 1606, 2009 WL 564165 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

OPINION

J. WOODFIN JONES, Chief Justice.

The University of Texas at Austin (the “University”) appeals the county court at law’s order denying its plea to the jurisdiction. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(8) (West 2008). The University asserts that sovereign immunity bars the negligence claims brought by the ap-pellee, Robert Hayes. Hayes sued the University for injuries he sustained when he rode his bicycle onto campus at night [882]*882and collided with a metal chain stretched across the throughway on which he was traveling.1 He alleged both a premises defect and a special defect under the Texas Tort Claims Act. See id. §§ 101.001-.109 (West 2005 & Supp 2008) (the “Act”). We will affirm the trial court’s order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Hayes alleged that at approximately 8:30 p.m. on the evening of September 12, 2003, he and his wife were riding their bicycles from their home north of the University campus to a restaurant southwest of campus. Entering the campus on San Jacinto Boulevard, Hayes and his wife began to ride up the road that proceeds uphill from Winship Circle to the Gregory Gym parking lot. Hayes alleged that he had taken this route many times before and was very familiar with it. As he was riding, his front bicycle tire struck a metal chain that was stretched across the throughway. As a result of the collision, Hayes was thrown from his bicycle and suffered personal injuries, including a broken jaw. According to Hayes, his bicycle was equipped with a functioning light and reflectors, and his light was turned on at the time of the accident. He further alleged that the chain was rusted and dark in color and that, given the advancing darkness and the poor lighting in the area, he could not see it even though he was looking straight ahead before the collision occurred. He pleaded that there was no reflective material or any other reflectors or lights on the chain itself.

According to the University, the chain had been placed across a “closed” service driveway earlier that day for the purpose of configuring university parking for a football game scheduled for the following day.2 Positioned in front of the chain was a large, orange and white reflective sawhorse barricade that Hayes had tried to bypass in an attempt to continue on the throughway. Hayes does not dispute the existence of the barricade, but stated that it blocked only the center of a throughway that was several feet wider than the barricade, and that he thought he could simply ride his bicycle around it.

In his first amended petition, Hayes alleged that the presence of the chain constituted either a premises defect or a special defect. The University filed an amended plea to the jurisdiction and motion to dismiss. Under its primary theory, the University asserted that the jurisdictional evidence conclusively established that Hayes was a trespasser at the time of his accident, and therefore he was required to allege that the University’s conduct was grossly negligent, willful, or wanton. His petition contained no such allegation. In the alternative, the University asserted that even if Hayes was not a trespasser for purposes of the Act, he was not an invitee, but only a licensee, and that the evidence conclusively established that it had discharged its duty to warn of the allegedly dangerous condition by putting up the reflective barricade. These are the only arguments asserted in the University’s amended plea to the jurisdiction.

[883]*883For his part, Hayes filed a motion for partial summary judgment asserting that the University’s immunity had been waived pursuant to section 101.021 of the Act. After a hearing, the trial court denied the University’s amended plea to the jurisdiction. In a separate order, the trial court granted Hayes’s motion for partial summary judgment, finding that the University’s immunity had been waived and that “[a] final ruling on immunity to liability is not yet ripe for determination.”

The University now brings this interlocutory appeal of the denial of its amended plea to the jurisdiction. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(8).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In Texas, sovereign immunity deprives a trial court of subject-matter jurisdiction for lawsuits in which the state or certain governmental units have been sued unless the state consents to suit. Texas Dep’t of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda, 138 S.W.3d 217, 224 (Tex.2004). Thus, a governmental unit such as the University properly raises the issue by a plea to the jurisdiction. See id. at 225-26. We review the denial of a plea to the jurisdiction de novo. Id. at 226. In deciding a plea to the jurisdiction, we may not weigh the merits of the plaintiffs claims, but must consider only the plaintiffs pleadings, construed in the plaintiffs favor, as well as any evidence pertinent to the jurisdictional inquiry. County of Cameron v. Brown, 80 S.W.8d 549, 555 (Tex.2002). However, in some cases, disputed evidence of jurisdictional facts that also implicate the merits of the case may require resolution by the finder of fact. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 226. Only if the pleadings and jurisdictional evidence affirmatively and conclusively negate the existence of jurisdiction should a plea to the jurisdiction be granted. Id. at 227.

When a plea to the jurisdiction challenges the pleadings, we first determine if the pleader has alleged facts that affirmatively demonstrate the court’s jurisdiction to hear the cause. Id. at 226 (citing Texas Ass’n of Bus. v. Texas Air Control Bd., 852 S.W.2d 440, 446 (Tex.1993)). We construe the pleadings liberally in favor of the plaintiff and look to the pleader’s intent. Id. If the pleadings do not contain sufficient facts to affirmatively demonstrate the trial court’s jurisdiction, but do not affirmatively demonstrate incurable defects in jurisdiction, the issue is one of pleading sufficiency and the plaintiff should be afforded the opportunity to amend. Id. at 226-27 (citing Brown, 80 S.W.3d at 555). If the pleadings affirmatively negate the existence of jurisdiction, then a plea to the jurisdiction may be granted without allowing the plaintiff an opportunity to amend. Id. at 227.

If a plea to the jurisdiction challenges the existence of jurisdictional facts, we consider relevant evidence submitted by the parties when necessary to resolve the jurisdictional issues raised, as the trial court is also required to do. Id. If the evidence creates a fact question regarding the jurisdictional issue, the trial court cannot grant the plea to the jurisdiction, and the fact issue will be resolved by the fact finder. Id. at 227-28. If, however, the relevant evidence is undisputed or fails to raise a fact question on the jurisdictional issue, the trial court rules on the plea to the jurisdiction as a matter of law. Id. at 228. This standard generally mirrors that of a traditional summary judgment under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166a(c). Id. Therefore, when reviewing a plea to the jurisdiction in which the pleading requirement has been met and the plea is supported by evidence that implicates the merits of the case, we take as true all evidence favorable to the nonmovant, and [884]

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Related

The University of Texas at Austin v. Hayes
327 S.W.3d 113 (Texas Supreme Court, 2010)
University of Texas at Austin v. Hayes
279 S.W.3d 877 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
279 S.W.3d 877, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 1606, 2009 WL 564165, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/university-of-texas-at-austin-v-hayes-texapp-2009.