HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has dismissed a slip-and-fall case involving a New Zealand citizen and an oil and gas drilling company, citing the plaintiff doesn’t have proper jurisdiction to bring such a complaint.
The state's 14th Court of Appeals reversed and dismissed the case, which was first filed in the 61st District Court of Harris County, on grounds that the defendants lacked the minimum-required contacts to be sued in the state of Texas.
The opinion was authored by justices Brett Busby, Jeff Brown and Kevin Jewell.
“Because the record shows that the non-resident defendants lack the requisite minimum contacts with Texas to warrant the exercise of personal jurisdiction as to this lawsuit, we reverse and render judgment dismissing the foreign plaintiff’s claims,” the opinion states.
According to the opinion, the appeal was based on an earlier decision that granted New Zealand citizen Tom Brighouse the personal jurisdiction to file a complaint against drilling company Megadrill Services Limited and its subsidiaries, MD Nigeria LLC, Depthwize Nigeria LTD and owner Robert Dunn.
Brighouse reportedly slipped and fell on deck while working on one of the companies' rigs off the coast of Nigeria. The original suit cited allegations of fraud and negligence, stating the vessel upon which Brighouse was working was unseaworthy because it allegedly lacked non-skid surfaces on walkways after being refitted in Louisiana and Texas for work in Nigeria.
Although none of the defendants were residents of the state of Texas, Brighouse filed suit in Harris County claiming that several of the defendants’ appearance in a previous lawsuit illustrated their consent to jurisdiction.
“Brighouse does not explain why Megadrill’s and Dunn’s prior federal court lawsuit or the subsequent Harris County action to enforce the federal court judgment—both of which are completely untethered to the present lawsuit—meet the common law definition of waiver on which he relies,” the opinion states.
The ruling states that the trial court erred in its judgment by allowing Brighouse to file suit, concluding there was a lack of both personal, as well as specific jurisdiction.
“The record conclusively shows that Brighouse’s alleged slip and fall accident does not arise out of or relate to the refurbishment work performed in Texas, the trial court erred in concluding that it had specific jurisdiction over Megadrill and MD Nigeria,” the ruling states.