Opinion ID: 2457165
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Oldham v. Thomas

Text: Howard Oldham, while driving in the course and scope of his employment with the City of Houston, rear-ended a car driven by Sharon Thomas and owned by Thomas' mother Alice McNeal. Thomas suffered injuries to her neck requiring surgery, while McNeal, who was not in the car at the time of the accident, suffered only property damage. Thomas and McNeal sued both Oldham and the City of Houston under the Texas Tort Claims Act. Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code §§ 101.001-101.109. At trial, the jury awarded Thomas $500,000 for her personal injuries and McNeal $3,300 for her property damage. The court rendered judgment for Thomas against Oldham and the City jointly and severally for $250,000, the City's limit of liability for personal injuries under the Tort Claims Act. See Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code § 101.023(c). The court rendered judgment solely against Oldham for the balance of Thomas' injuries, plus prejudgment interest, totalling $429,508. For McNeal, the court rendered judgment against Oldham and the City jointly and severally for her property damage, which was well within a municipality's separate liability cap of $100,000 for injury to property. See id. Both Oldham and the City appealed. Oldham argued that, under section 101.106, the judgment rendered against the City barred the concurrent judgment rendered against him. The court of appeals agreed, reforming the trial court's judgment to provide that Thomas and McNeal recover nothing from Oldham. [1] The City additionally urged that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on sudden emergency, and that the evidence was factually and legally insufficient to support Thomas' and McNeal's damage awards. The court of appeals rejected these arguments, affirming the judgment against the City in all respects.