CHG Hosp. Bellaire, LLC v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 20 April 2021 |
| Docket Number | NO. 01-20-00437-CV,01-20-00437-CV |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
| Parties | CHG HOSPITAL BELLAIRE, LLC, Appellant v. SEKETA JOHNSON, Appellee |
On Appeal from the 157th District Court Harris County, Texas
Seketa Johnson sued CHG Hospital Bellaire, LLC for tort claims seeking damages for injuries she sustained in an on-the-job accident. CHG-Bellaire moved to stay litigation, and the trial court denied the motion. CHG-Bellaire then petitioned this Court for a writ of mandamus, and we denied the petition. CHG-Bellaire moved to compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration (FAA), and the trial court denied the motion. CHG-Bellaire appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in denying its motion to compel arbitration because the parties entered into an enforceable arbitration agreement and Johnson's claims fell within the scope of claims covered by the agreement.
We affirm.
In August 2019, Johnson sued CHG-Bellaire for negligence, premises liability, and gross negligence, alleging that she had sustained injuries while training as a nurse at a hospital operated by CHG-Bellaire. Johnson and her trainer had to physically lift and adjust a "very heavy" patient on the bed because the hospital did not have the equipment ordinarily used to move patients. The trainer suddenly grabbed the bed sheets and began pulling the patient up the bed without first warning Johnson. Trying to catch the patient, Johnson quickly pulled the other side of the bed sheets and suddenly felt a pop in her spine followed by pain. She immediately stopped pulling the bed sheets and told her trainer about the injury.
Physicians treated Johnson's injuries and advised her to not lift anything weighing more than 10 pounds until she fully recovered. Although Johnson had not fully healed, CHG-Bellaire placed her back on regular rotation. Johnson told her superiors that she could not perform the same duties because lifting patients violatedher doctor's orders. Despite her explanation, CHG-Bellaire still required her to lift patients.
As Johnson was caring for a patient, the patient became dizzy and started to fall. Johnson rushed to prevent the patient from falling and she suddenly felt a "pull and pain" in her spine. Since the incidents, the pain in her back continued to worsen and prevented her from performing tasks she could perform before.
CHG-Bellaire answered the suit with special exceptions, a general denial, and affirmative defenses, asserting that Johnson's claims were subject to arbitration.
CHG-Bellaire then moved to stay the litigation. The trial court denied the motion, and CHG-Bellaire petitioned our Court for a writ of mandamus, requesting that we stay the litigation proceedings and compel arbitration. We denied the petition, noting a material defect:
Relator asserts in its petition for writ of mandamus that it seeks relief from the trial court's denial of relator's "motion to stay litigation and compel arbitration" but the order attached to the petition does not refer to a motion to compel arbitration.
In re CHB Hosp. Bellaire, LLC, No. 01-20-00278-CV, 2020 WL 2026478, at *1 n.2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 28, 2020, no pet.) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam).
Then, CHG-Bellaire moved to compel arbitration, followed by a supplemental motion to compel arbitration and an amended motion to compel arbitration. CHG-Bellaire argued that the parties had entered into an enforceable arbitrationagreement. It also argued that Johnson's claims for injuries during her employment fell within the scope of arbitral claims under the agreement.
CHG-Bellaire attached evidence to its motion to show the existence and scope of an enforceable arbitration agreement. The evidence included copies of the Employee Injury Benefit Plan (EIBP), the Employee Handbook, and the Employment Dispute Resolution Agreement (EDRA).
Section 5(a)(i) of the EIBP included a provision entitled "Mutual Agreement to Arbitrate," addressing the scope of the arbitration agreement and the claims covered by the agreement:
This Agreement is mutual, covering all claims that Company or Claimant may have which arise from: Any injury suffered by Claimant while in the Course and Scope of Claimant's employment with Company, including but not limited to, claims for negligence, gross negligence, and all claims for personal injuries, physical impairment, disfigurement, pain and suffering, mental anguish, wrongful death, survival actions, loss of consortium and/or services, medical and hospital expenses, expenses of transportation for medical treatment, expenses of drugs and medical appliances, emotional distress, exemplary or punitive damages and any other loss, detriment or claim of whatever kind and character.
Section 508 of the EDRA included a provision articulating the claims covered by the arbitration agreement:
The Company and you mutually consent and agree to the resolution by arbitration of all claims or disputes (Claim(s)), whether or not arising out of your employment (or its termination), that the Company may have against you or that you may have against the Company or its officers, directors, members, owners, shareholders, partners, employees or agents, past or present, in their capacity as such or otherwise. . . . TheClaims covered by this Agreement include, but are not limited to, claims for wages or other compensation due, claims for breach of any contract or covenant (express or implied); tort claims; equitable claims; claims for discrimination (including, but not limited to, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, marital status, or medical condition, handicap or disability); claims for retaliation or harassment; all common law claims and claims for violation of any federal, state, or other governmental law, statute, regulation, or ordinance, except for claims identified below.
Section 509 of the EDRA excludes certain claims, including worker's compensation claims, from arbitration:
Claims you may have for workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, or state disability insurance benefits are not covered by this Agreement. . . . This Agreement also does not apply to any Claim that an applicable federal statute expressly states cannot be arbitrated.
Similarly, the Employee Handbook included the same arbitration provision referenced in the EDRA:
Agreeing to the Employment Dispute Resolution Program Agreement (Agreement) electronically or otherwise constitutes your agreement to be bound by the EDR Program. Likewise, the Company agrees to be bound by this same program. This mutual agreement to arbitrate claims means that both you and the Company are bound to use the EDR Program as the sole means of resolving covered claims and disputes and agree to forego any right either may have to a jury trial on issues covered by the EDR Program. However, no remedies that otherwise would be available to you or the Company in a court of law will be forfeited by virtue of the agreement to use and be bound by the EDR Program.
CHG-Bellaire attached two affidavits to its motion. The first was from I. Tai, Escalation Manager for Saba TalentSpace, an onboarding platform. Tai testified that newly hired CHG-Bellaire employees had to access, review, and acknowledgeseveral employment agreements containing arbitration provisions through the online platform. Each employee had to create a secure and unique username and password, which was encrypted and stored in the Saba database. After successfully entering login information, the system prompts the employee to complete the Employee Handbook course and the EIBP course. After the employee completes the course, the Saba database tests the employees understanding of the course content, generates transcript reports, and displays the employee's scores.
Tai also testified that Johnson created a username and password on Saba, accessed various employment documents, and completed the Employee Handbook course and the EIBP course on July 8, 2019. Saba's records showed that Johnson successfully answered all five questions in the Employee Handbook course and all three questions in the EIBP course.
CHG-Bellaire presented another affidavit from K. Mendez, the HR Director for the Cornerstone Healthcare Group Holdings, Inc., the parent company of CHG-Bellaire. Mendez testified that she was responsible for the "overall processes and implementation of policies involving documentation related to onboarding" new employees. Mendez confirmed that the Saba reports showed that Johnson had acknowledged reviewing the Employee Handbook, the EDRA, and the EIBP.
Johnson moved to strike the motion to compel arbitration, arguing that the arbitration agreements exclude workers' compensation claims and that evidence didnot establish that a valid arbitration agreement existed because she testified at her deposition that she could not recall acknowledging or agreeing to the arbitration agreements.1
CHG-Bellaire replied to Johnson's motion, contending that her claims fell within the scope of the arbitration agreements because she sought damages for personal injuries for her tort claims and did not allege any claims under the Texas Workers Compensation Act. It also contended that the evidence established the existence of enforceable arbitration agreements and that our denial of mandamus relief did not constitute "law of the case" or address the merits.
The trial court denied CHG-Bellaire's motion to compel arbitration without a hearing.
CHG-Bellaire appealed.2
CHG-Bellaire contends that the trial court erred in denying its motion to compel arbitration because the parties entered into enforceable arbitration agreementand the agreement covered Johnson's claims. In response, Johnson asserts that CHG-Bellaire failed to establish that a valid arbitration agreement existed because she testified under oath that, based on her personal recollection, she did not execute the purported agreement. She argues...
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