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Keywords

tortnegligenceliabilitystatuteappealsustainedduty of carebad faith

tortplaintiffjurisdictionnegligenceliabilitystatuteappealtrialpleaduty of care

Related Cases

University of Texas v. Garner, 595 S.W.3d 645, 375 Ed. Law Rep. 1017, 63 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 41

Facts

April Garner was riding her bicycle on a road owned by the University of Texas at Austin when she was struck by a university employee, Angel Moreno, who was backing out of a parking space. Garner sustained injuries, including a fractured wrist and facial cuts. She sued the university, claiming that the Tort Claims Act waived its immunity due to the negligence of its employee. The university contended that Garner was trespassing and thus owed only a duty not to injure her intentionally or through gross negligence, invoking the Recreational Use Statute.

Garner sued the University for negligence, contending that the Tort Claims Act waived the University's immunity. The University filed a plea to the jurisdiction, arguing that Garner was trespassing on its property at the time of the incident and that the University therefore owed only a duty not to injure her intentionally or through gross negligence.

Issue

Did the Recreational Use Statute apply to limit the university's liability under the Tort Claims Act, thereby preserving its immunity from Garner's negligence claim?

Rule

The Recreational Use Statute limits the liability of landowners, including governmental units, by classifying recreational users as trespassers and requiring proof of gross negligence, malicious intent, or bad faith to waive immunity under the Tort Claims Act.

The Recreational Use Statute limits the Tort Claims Act's waiver of governmental immunity by lowering the duty of care owed to a person who enters and engages in 'recreation' on a governmental unit's property.

Analysis

The court determined that the Recreational Use Statute applied to Garner's case, as she was engaged in an activity classified as 'recreation' while on university property. The court noted that the statute only required the university to owe a duty not to injure her intentionally or through gross negligence. Since Garner did not allege any conduct beyond ordinary negligence, the university retained its immunity from suit.

In this case, the plaintiff sued a state university for negligence after she was injured by a university employee while bicycling on university-owned property. The trial court denied the university's plea to the jurisdiction, and the court of appeals affirmed, holding that the Tort Claims Act waived the university's immunity and that the Recreational Use Statute did not apply.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals' judgment, concluding that the Recreational Use Statute applied and that the Tort Claims Act did not waive the university's immunity from Garner's ordinary negligence claim.

Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals' judgment.

Who won?

The University of Texas at Austin prevailed in the case because the Supreme Court found that the Recreational Use Statute applied, limiting the university's duty of care and preserving its immunity from Garner's negligence claim.

The University has consistently argued that the Recreational Use Statute applies here to limit the Tort Claims Act's immunity waiver.

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