Court Opinion

ID: 9773644
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:52:36.641101+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:55.696570
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
On original submission this Court reversed the trial court judgment on a suit brought under the Workers’ Compensation Act, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 8306, et seq. *289(Vernon 1967) and Article 21.21, § 16 of the Texas Insurance Code (Vernon 1981). After jury findings that appellee was totally and permanently disabled under the workers’ compensation claim and that appellant’s unfair practices in the business of insurance were in violation of Article 21.21, the trial court awarded appellee attorney’s fees and three times the value of unpaid medical bills plus the statutory total and permanent workers’ compensation benefits based on the provisions of Section 16. Our reversal was based on appellant’s second point of error which contended the trial court erred in trebling the award of total and permanent disability benefits because actions for workers’ compensation benefits and unfair practices in the business of insurance have separate statutory bases and the measures of damages granted by these statutes are independent and unrelated. We now modify our original opinion on motion for rehearing and affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.
We granted appellee’s motion for rehearing and consider a ground of error which was not discussed in our original opinion. The trial court overruled appellant’s timely Motion to Sever the workers’ compensation claim from the claims under Article 21.21 for unfair practices in the business of insurance, bad faith and gross negligence. Upon reflection, we believe that severance should have been granted.
Rule 174(b), Texas Rules of Civil Procedure provides that the court in furtherance of convenience or to avoid prejudice may order a separate trial of any separate claim or issue. A severance is appropriate if a controversy involves two or more separate and distinct causes of action, each of which might constitute a complete lawsuit within itself. Burleson v. Finley, 581 S.W.2d 304, 308 (Tex.Civ.App.— Austin 1979, writ ref’d n.r.e.). The controlling reasons for a severance are (1) the doing of justice, (2) the avoiding of prejudice, (3) the furtherance of convenience. Utilities Natural Gas Corp. v. Hill, 239 S.W.2d 431, 434 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1951, writ ref’d n.r. e.). The decision as to the severance of claims is ordinarily left to the discretion of the trial court. The Supreme Court of Texas has stated, however, that
... the Court is not vested with unlimited discretion, and is required to exercise a sound and legal discretion within limits created by the circumstances of the particular case. The express purpose of the rule is to further convenience and avoid prejudice, and thus promote the ends of justice. When all of the facts and circumstances of the case unquestionably require a separate trial to prevent manifest injustice, and there is no fact or circumstance supporting or tending to support a contrary conclusion, and the legal rights of the parties will not be prejudiced thereby, there is no room for the exercise of discretion. The rule then is peremptory in operation and imposes upon the court a duty to order a separate trial. Womack v. Berry, 156 Tex. 44, 291 S.W.2d 677, 683 (Tex.1956).
In the instant case, we are of the opinion that there was a misjoinder of the two causes. The statutory award of benefits under the workers’ compensation claim and the measure of damages under Article 21.21, § 16 of the Texas Insurance Code are fundamentally different from one another and require substantially different evidence.
Therefore, we hereby sever the workers’ compensation claim from the actions for unfair practices in the business of insurance, gross negligence and bad faith.
After a close examination of the record, we find that the evidence supporting the workers’ compensation claim is overwhelming. The trial court judgment with respect to the claim under the Workers’ Compensation Act is affirmed. Appellee is awarded disability benefits in the sum of $40,817.00 and recompense for medical bills totalling $2,390.00. Appellant is therefore ordered to pay appellee a total sum of $43,207.00.
Our original opinion is therefore modified only as hereby required and judgment of the trial court with respect to the action under Article 21.21, § 16 of the Texas Insurance Code is reversed and remanded to the trial court for a separate trial thereon.