Court Opinion

ID: 9662152
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:00:41.988988+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:37.231478
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON APPELLEE’S MOTION FOR REHEARING
We overrule Greenhouse’s motion for rehearing.
In our opinion on UTMB’s motion for rehearing, we stated that Greenhouse waived her equal protection claim because she did not support it with argument or authority in her original brief. However, as Greenhouse points out in her motion for rehearing, she did file a postsubmission brief that addressed this issue. We therefore address the merits of her equal protection claim.
Greenhouse’s equal protection claim is without merit. Texas cases echo federal standards when determining whether a statute violates equal protection under either the federal or state constitution. Rose v. Doctor’s Hosp., 801 S.W.2d 841, 846 (Tex.1990). Those standards dictate that when the classification created by a state statute does not infringe upon fundamental rights or does not burden an inherently suspect class, equal protection requires only that the statutory classification be rationally related to a legitimate state interest. Id. State legislatures are presumed to have acted within their constitutional power despite the fact that, in practice, them laws result in some inequality. A statutory discrimination will not be set aside if any state of facts may be conceived to justify it. Tarrant County Hosp. Dist. v. Ray, 712 S.W.2d 271, 273 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.).
The purpose of the notice provision of the Tort Claims Act is to enable a governmental unit to investigate allegations against it while facts are fresh and conditions are substantially similar so it may guard against unfounded claims, settle claims, and prepare for trial. City of Houston v. Torres, 621 S.W.2d 588, 591 (Tex.1981). The notice provision is rationally related to a legitimate state interest.