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City of Baytown v.12/9/1999
On September 23, 1999, we withdrew our previous opinion in this appeal, and we now issue the following one in its place.
This case involves the relationship between sections 101.021(2) and 101.060(a)(2) of the Texas Tort Claims Act and official immunity. Appellant, The City of Baytown ("City"), brings this interlocutory appeal after the trial court denied its motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by Appellees, Patricia Peoples, Pamela Mae Peoples, and Alvin Ira Miller ("Peoples"). In one issue, the City appeals the denial of its motion. It claims that it cannot be held liable because its employee is entitled to official immunity. We affirm the trial court judgment because we conclude that this is a premises liability case; it is not a case based on respondeat superior liability for the acts of the employee. Therefore, the employee's officialimmunitydoes not negate the governmental unit's potential liabilityspecifically provided for in section 101.060(a)(2).
THE CONTROVERSY
OnApril25, 1997, at approximately 9:35 p.m., Johnny Ray Berry was involved ina traffic accident with Theresa Lachelle White in the city of Baytown. Berry was southbound on Decker Drive and White was eastbound on Bayway Drive. At the intersection of these two streets, the cars collided. Appellees, Pamela Peoples, Patricia Mae Peoples, and Alvin Miller, were passengers in Berry's car at the time of the accident.
Normally, a traffic light controls the intersection of Bayway and Decker Drives; but on the night of the accident, the light was not operating properly. The circuit breaker that controlled the light had malfunctioned, possibly because the electrical power to the light had been disrupted by a storm, which apparently had halted the flow of electricity to a number of lights.
On the night of the accident, John Stombaugh was a signal technician and acting traffic control supervisor for the City. At approximately 8:46 p.m., Stombaugh received a call about the malfunctioning light at the Bayway/Decker intersection. However, because of the storm, Stombaugh was busy working on other malfunctioning traffic lights. Stombaugh assumed electrical service had been interrupted at the Bayway/Decker intersection, because it was reported that all of the traffic lights were out at that intersection. In Stombaugh's opinion, the light at the Bayway/Decker intersection was not as heavily traveled as other intersections where he was working. Consequently, he did not immediately travel to repair that light. He went to the Bayway/Decker intersection after he repaired the other lights, which had been reported to him. When Stombaugh arrived at the intersection, the accident had already occurred. He noticed that the electricity was working but that the light was not functioning properly because of a bad circuit breaker on the traffic signal. After replacing the bad circuit breaker, Stombaugh restored the light to working order.
To recover for their injuries, Appellees sued Berry and the City. In their suit against the City, Appellees complain about the decisions Stombaugh made the night of the accident. Specifically, Appellees argue that he should have proceeded immediately to the Bayway/ Decker intersection, and that he should have erected temporary stop signs, or called another signal technician out to work on the lights. The City contends that Stombaugh, in light of his training, experience, and education, had the discretionary judgment to proceed as he did. It further contends that his actions on the night of the accident were reasonable and necessary to safeguard the public and all areas of the City of Baytown, and that he proceeded in the most reasonable and logical m
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