Court Opinion

ID: 9668715
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:23:47.728547+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:47.619708
License: Public Domain

DOGGETT, Justice,
concurring.
The concurring opinion of January 30, 1991 is withdrawn and the following is substituted.
I reluctantly concur based upon the analysis provided in my concurrence in the companion case of Cathey v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 805 S.W.2d 387. The court notes that “for state-law claims that do not fall within the scope of one of these three categories, an assertion of ERISA preemption is, if successful, jurisdictional and may therefore be raised for the first time on appeal.” Id. at 547. The harsh effect of this conclusion is that an insurer may now defeat a claim by asserting an ERISA defense for the first time on appeal after a Texas judge and jury have found it guilty of engaging in false, misleading or deceptive acts or breaching its duty of good faith and fair dealing. What was designed to protect workers has now become a vehicle for insurers to evade that protection.
Furthermore, I believe that in exercising its discretion on remand the trial court should consider our uniform policy permitting the recovery of prejudgment interest. See, e.g., Rio Grande Land & Cattle Co. v. Light, 758 S.W.2d 747, 748 (Tex.1988) (per curiam) (awarding prejudgment interest discourages delay and encourages compromise); Perry Roofing Co. v. Olcott, 744 S.W.2d 929, 930 (Tex.1988); Cavnar v. Quality Control Parking, Inc., 696 S.W.2d 549 (Tex.1985).
MAUZY and GAMMAGE, JJ., join in this concurring opinion.