Monthly Archives: March 2010

In a negligent entrustment/negligent hiring case against a company whose driver causes an auto accident, the driver’s immigration status is not admissible at trial to prove these causes of action against the company. TXI Transp. Co. v. Hughes, No. 07-0541 (Tex.2010). The Texas Supreme Court has held: We have said a claim for negligent hiring or entrustment cannot lie if “[t]he risk that caused the entrustment to be negligent did not cause the collision,” and if a “defendant’s negligence did no more than furnish a condition which made the injury possible.” Here, Rodriguez’s immigration status did not cause the collision, and was not relevant to the negligent entrustment or hiring claims—even if TXI’s failure to screen, and thus its failure to discover his inability to work in the United States, “furnished [the] condition” that made the accident possible. We agree with the court of appeals “that neither Rodriguez’s status as an illegal alien or his use of a fake Social Security number to obtain a commercial driver’s license created a foreseeable risk that Rodriguez would … Continue reading →

The Texas Supreme Court issued a new opinion today in a premises liability case involving a slip and fall on ice after a rare Texas snow storm. The Texas Supreme Court held that ice that accumulates naturally outside a business due to a winter storm does not pose an unreasonable risk of harm. The Court also noted that the business owner’s application of a deicer does not create a substantially more dangerous condition than the ice in its natural state. Even if the owner uses a deicer to melt the ice, the owner does not create an unnatural condition if the ice refreezes after melting, because ice that melts and then refreezes is still considered natural accumulation. See, Scott and White Mem. Hosp. and Scott, Sherwood and Brindley Foundation v. Fair, No. 08-0970, (Tex.May 7, 2010).