HOUSTON - Yesterday, the First Court of Appeals dismissed an automobile collision lawsuit against the city of Houston for want of jurisdiction.
The lawsuit was brought by Martha Vogel and Maria Escalante. They alleged that on Aug. 3, 2018, they were involved in a traffic accident with a Houston Fire Department ambulance operated by an EMT.
Vogel alleged she had the right-of-way at an intersection and that the EMT ran a stop sign and collided with her truck. Together, Vogel and Escalante, who was a passenger in Vogel’s vehicle, sought more than $2.5 million in personal injury damages.
Court records show the city filed a plea to the jurisdiction in response to the suit, arguing that it was entitled to governmental immunity. The city asserted that the EMT was responding to an emergency call and that the emergency lights and siren on the ambulance had been activated at the time of the incident.
The EMT also testified that the ambulance came to a stop at the stop sign and that cross-traffic was “very far off,” states the First Court’s opinion.
The city argued that the EMT is entitled to official immunity because, at the time of the collision, he was exercising discretion in responding to an emergency call and performing his duties in “good faith,” the opinion states.
Justices concluded that Vogel and Escalante did not present evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact as to a violation of the law by the EMT and that the city conclusively established that it retained its governmental immunity under the “9-1-1 Emergency Service” exception to the Texas Tort Claims Act.
“Accordingly, we hold that the trial court erred in denying the City’s plea to the jurisdiction,” the opinion states. “We reverse the trial court’s order and render judgment dismissing Vogel and Escalante’s suit against the City for want of jurisdiction.”
Case No. 01-22-00071-CV