HOUSTON - Yesterday, the First Court of Appeals dismissed a premises liability claim brought against Harris County.
The lawsuit was filed by Aaron Ruth Park, who was injured when she fell down the stairs at the Juergen’s Hall Community Center, which is owned by Harris County.
According to the First Court’s opinion, Park had attended an event hosted by her church at the Juergen’s Hall. As she exited the center, she fell down the steps located at the front of the building.
Park sued Harris County under the Texas Tort Claims Act, alleging negligence, gross negligence, premises liability, special defect, attractive nuisance, and misuse of tangible personal property.
She further alleged that the county “was aware of the extremely dangerous condition and failed to warn of said condition,” but her pleadings did not specify what factors made the stairs dangerous or defective, the opinion states.
Court records show Harris County filed a combined plea to the jurisdiction and motion for summary judgment, asserting that her various negligence claims were subsumed within her premises liability claim and that her premises liability claim failed as a matter of law because she had actual knowledge of the alleged premises defect.
The trial court granted the motion in part, dismissing all of her claims with prejudice except for the premises liability claim.
On appeal, the county argued that the trial court erred in denying its plea to the jurisdiction on the premises liability claim because it showed that Park had actual knowledge of the condition of the steps she slipped down, and therefore was entitled to dismissal of Park’s premises liability claim.
The First Court reversed the portion of the order denying the county’s plea to the jurisdiction on Park’s premises liability claim, rendering judgment dismissing the claim.
“We conclude that Park failed to demonstrate that a question of fact existed as to whether she had actual knowledge of the stairs’ dangerous condition,” the opinion states.
“Accordingly, the County’s governmental immunity has not been waived in this case, and we hold that the trial court erred by denying the County’s plea to the jurisdiction on Park’s premises liability claim.”
Case No. 01-22-00778-CV