.jpg)
HOUSTON - The 14th Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling denying the city of Houston governmental immunity from a lawsuit brought over an automobile collision allegedly caused by a city employee.
According to the 14th Court’s opinion, a city employee driving a city-owned vehicle ran a stop sign at an intersection, striking Everardo Flores-Garcia’s vehicle.
Flores-Garcia sued the city for negligence, asserting the employee was in the scope and course of his employment at the time of the collision, and therefore the city’s immunity was waived under the Texas Torts Claims Act.
The city filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that the limited waiver of governmental immunity provided by the TTCA did not apply because the employee was not acting in the scope of his employment at the time of the incident, the opinion states.
The trial court denied the city’s motion and the appeal followed, court records show.
The 14th Court found that the summary judgment evidence does not conclusively establish that, at the time of the collision, the employee was on a personal errand and had not resumed his job duties.
“We overrule the City’s sole issue on appeal,” the opinion states. “We affirm the trial court’s order denying the City’s motion for summary judgment.”
Appeals case No. 14-21-00680-CV