HOUSTON - The First Court of Appeals recently affirmed a ruling granting the city of Houston summary judgment in a lawsuit alleging an unmarked police car struck another vehicle from behind.
The lawsuit was brought by Obed Valdez, who sued the city asserting claims for negligence.
According to the First Court’s Sept. 1 opinion, Valdez was traveling northbound on Tomball Parkway when his car was struck from behind by an unmarked police car driven by an HPD officer.
Court records show the city filed a combined motion for summary judgment and Rule 91a motion to dismiss, arguing that the officer was not acting within the scope of her employment at the time her vehicle struck Valdez’s car and therefore it retained its governmental immunity under the Texas Tort Claims Act.
The trial court granted the motion based on no waiver of governmental immunity and dismissed Valdez’s claims against the city for want of jurisdiction.
On appeal, Valdez contends the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the city because there are genuine issues of material fact regarding whether the officer was acting within the scope of her employment at the time of the collision, the opinion states.
The First Court found that the summary judgment evidence did not support that the officer, who was off duty but remained on call at the time of the incident, was acting within the scope of her employment.
“Because the TTCA’s limited waiver of immunity was not triggered, the City retained its governmental immunity,” the opinion states. “The trial court properly granted summary judgment for the City on Valdez’s claims.”
Case No. 01-21-00070-CV