HOUSTON - The 14th Court of Appeals recently affirmed a ruling denying the city of Houston governmental immunity in a lawsuit brought over an automobile collision involving one of the city’s garbage trucks.
Court records show the lawsuit was filed by Erika Cavazos. In September 2017, Cavazos was driving with her two minor children at the time and passing through an intersection when a garbage truck being driven by a city employee backed up into the intersection and collided with her vehicle.
Court records further show that the city filed a plea to the jurisdiction, arguing that it was entitled to governmental immunity and that the facts of this case do not fall within the Texas Tort Claims Act’s waiver of immunity because its employee was not operating the garbage truck at the time of the accident.
According to the 14th Court’s March 15 opinion, the city argued that the employee testified during his deposition that the garbage truck “was at a complete stop” in the intersection at the time of the accident because Espinoza saw Cavazos approaching.
The trial denied the city’s plea leading to the appeal.
The 14th Court found that the evidence the city presented does not conclusively establish that the garbage truck was completely stopped in the middle of the intersection when Cavazos approached.
Justices further concluded that the evidence shows that a genuine question of material fact exists as to whether the employee was backing into the intersection.
“Accordingly, we hold that the trial court did not err in denying the City’s plea to the jurisdiction based on governmental immunity, and we overrule the City’s issue,” the opinion states.
Case No. 14-20-00284-CV