Word v. Schwan's Company

• Court: District Court, S.D. Texas
• Decided: July 8, 2025
• Docket: 4:23-cv-01561
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

Southern District of Texas ENTERED IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT July 08, 2025 FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Nathan Ochsner, Clerk HOUSTON DIVISION JOSHUA WORD, § Plaintiff, § CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:23-CV-1561 SCHWAN’S COMPANY, et al., Defendant. § ORDER Before the Court are several motions filed by Defendant: (1) Motion for Leave to Designate Ecolab, Inc. as a Responsible Third Party, (Doc. No. 34); (2) Motion for Leave to Designate Ecolab, Inc. and Indiana Safety & Supply Co. as Responsible Third Parties, (Doc. No. 71); and (3) Motion for Leave to File a Third-Party Petition Against Ecolab, Inc. and Indiana Safety & Supply Co. (Doc. No. 74). Defendants seek leave to designate responsible third parties under the Texas proportionate responsibility scheme contained in Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code. With certain express exceptions not relevant here, Chapter 33 applies to all common law torts and to statutory torts that do not include a separate and conflicting legislative fault-allocation scheme. TEX. Civ. PRAC. & REM. CODE § 33.002; JCW Electronics, Inc. v. Garza, 257 S.W.3d 701, 704— 06 (Tex. 2008); PEMEX Exploracion y Produccion v. Murphy Energy Corp., 923 F. Supp. 2d 961, 980 (S.D. Tex. 2013). Responsible third parties are not limited to those who can be joined as parties to the litigation. Responsible third parties may be persons or entities outside the court's jurisdiction, unable to be sued by the plaintiff, or even unknown. See PEMEX, 923 F. Supp. 2d at 980. The Court finds that Defendant has alleged sufficient facts concerning the alleged responsibility of both EcoLab, Inc. and Indiana Safety & Supply Co. Thus, Defendants’ Motion to

Designate EcoLab, Inc. and Indiana Safety & Supply Co. as Responsible Third Parties is GRANTED. (Doc. No. 71). As such, Defendants’ other motion to designate a responsible third party is DENIED as moot. (Doc. Nos. 34). Defendant has also filed a Motion to File a Third-Party Petition Against EcoLab, Inc. and Indiana Safety & Supply Co. (Doc. No. 74). Defendant moves for a “Third-Party Petition” under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 38(a). (Doc. No. 74 at 3). Since this case is now in Federal court, however, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure do not apply. Klocke v. Watson, 936 F.3d 240, 244 (Sth Cir. 2019), as revised (Aug. 29, 2019) (“The Erie line of authorities holds that substantive state law must be applied in federal courts in diversity cases like this one, but state procedural law yields to the applicable Federal Rules.”). In this case, the appropriate mechanism would be impleader pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 14. See FED. R. Civ. Pro. 14. As Defendant’s motion does not mention Rule 14 or the requirements for impleader in Federal court, the Court DENIES this motion without prejudice to be refiled if appropriate under the governing Federal rules. (Doc. No. 74). Defendants’ Motion to Designate Ecolab, Inc. and Indiana Safety & Supply Co as Responsible Third Parties is GRANTED. (Doc. No. 71). Defendants’ prior motion to designate is DENIED as moot, (Doc. No. 34), and Defendants’ Motion to File a Third-Party Petition is DENIED without prejudice. (Doc. No. 74).

Signed this ee of July, 2025. | Andrew §. Hanen United States District Judge