Another appeal in City of Houston car wreck litigation

Since it offers a nice compilation of the prior decisions on the same issue -- the city's effort to get immunity both for itself and its employee -- first the concurring opinion by Justice Brown:

City of Houston v. Vellejo 

(Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] May 22, 2012)

CONCURRING OPINION

This Court has already decided the issue presented in this case: whether the Tort Claims Act’s election-of-remedies provision bars a plaintiff’s tort claims against a governmental unit when the plaintiff initially sued both the governmental unit and its employee. See City of Houston v. Esparza, No. 01–11–00046–CV, 2011 WL 4925990, at *5–10(Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Oct. 7, 2011, pet. filed).[1] I would follow this Court’s controlling precedent and affirm the trial court’s denial of the city’s plea to the jurisdiction.

I therefore concur in the Court’s opinion.

Harvey Brown

Justice

FOOTNOTE:

Since its issuance, this Court has consistently followed Esparza.See, e.g.,City of Houston v. Gwinn, No. 01-11-00524-CV, 2012 WL 1068591, at *1–2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Mar. 29, 2012, no. pet. h.) (mem. op.) (following Esparza); Metro. Transit Auth. v. Light, No. 01-11-00747-CV, 2012 WL 252187, at *1–2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 26, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op.) (same); City of Houston v. Tsaig, No. 01-11-00432-CV, 2012 WL 170606, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 19, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op.) (same); Tex. Dep’t of Aging & Disability Servs. v. Johnson, No. 01-11-00526-CV, 2012 WL 27728, at *2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 5, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op.) (same); City of Houston v. Marquez, No. 01-11-00493-CV, 2011 WL 6147772, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 8, 2011, no pet.)(mem. op.) (same); City of Houston v. McClain, No. 01-11-00194-CV, 2011 WL 6015697, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 1, 2011, pet. filed) (mem. op.) (same); City of Houston v. San Miguel, No. 01–10–01071–CV, 2011 WL 5429048, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Nov. 10, 2011, no. pet. h.) (mem. op.) (same). Several other courts of appeals have also followed Esparza. See, e.g., Tex. Tech Univ. Health Scis. Ctr. v. Villagran, No. 07-11-0257-CV, 2012 WL 967366, at *7 (Tex. App.—Amarillo Mar. 22, 2012, no. pet. h.); Tex. Dep’t of Pub. Safety, No. 04-11-00271-CV, 2012 WL 726916, at *4–7 (Tex. App.—San Antonio March 7, 2012, no pet. h.).

SOURCE: HOUSTON COURT OF APPELAS – FIRST DISTRICT - 01-11-00133-CV– 5/22/12

CASE STYLE: The City of Houston v. Blanca A. Vellejo and Anjel Flores