Court Opinion

ID: 9767457
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:20:03.191689+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:31.209787
License: Public Domain

ROWE, Justice,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority opinion in all respects except for its failure to consider on the merits Elbar’s complaint about the impropriety of awarding exemplary damages to the Claussens for the wrongful death of their son. Such an award is fundamentally without support in law and should not be allowed to stand.
This is a classic case for resort to the principle of fundamental error. As the majority concedes, the Claussens, as surviving parents of William Dean Claussen, are not entitled to recover exemplary damages under the Wrongful Death Act because Article XVI § 26 of the Texas Constitution limits the right to recover exemplary damages for the wrongful death of a person to the “surviving” husband, widow [and] heirs of his or her body. Thus, the exemplary damage award in this case is in direct conflict with the public policy of Texas as declared in our state constitution. Also, the underlying facts are not in dispute, and the error is clearly discernible from the face of the record without resort to the statement of facts.
Despite the recent near-fatal restrictions placed upon the doctrine of fundamental error by our supreme court, at least two exceptions are still viable: (1) errors which directly and adversely affect the public generally as that interest is declared in the constitution of the state, Ramsey v. Dunlop, 146 Tex. 196, 205 S.W.2d 979, 983 (1947), and (2) lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, McCauley v. Consolidated Underwriters, 157 Tex. 475, 304 S.W.2d 265, 266 (1957). The record before us straddles both of these exceptions. Further, this Court on a prior occasion, when a comparable set of facts was presented, did not hesitate in finding fundamental error. In Smith v. Basham, 227 S.W.2d 853, 856 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1950), aff'd, 149 Tex. 279, 233 S.W.2d 297 (1950), our Court characterized as fundamental error, reversible with or without assignment, the granting of a statutory penalty against the estate of a decedent on a cause of action as to which penalties for violation do not survive the death of the violator. I would follow this example and reform the judgment in this case to eliminate the award of exemplary damages to the Claussens.