Sanchez v. New York Underwriters Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 25 April 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 2-89-128-CV,2-89-128-CV |
| Citation | 788 S.W.2d 916 |
| Parties | Raul SANCHEZ, Appellant, v. NEW YORK UNDERWRITERS INSURANCE COMPANY and David Sampson, Appellees. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Kugle, Stewart, Dent & Frederick, and Mark S. Stewart, Fort Worth, for appellant.
Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller, Anne Gardner and Edward L. Wilkinson, Fort Worth, for appellees.
Before FARRIS, LATTIMORE and MEYERS, JJ.
Appellant, Raul Sanchez, appeals the trial court's granting appellees, New York Underwriters Insurance Company (NYUIC), and David Sampson, summary judgment. Sanchez was injured in the course of his employment and filed a worker's compensation claim against NYUIC with the Texas Industrial Accident Board. Thereafter, the board made an award of $203 for fifty-two weeks at total temporary disability and both parties appealed the board's award. NYUIC discontinued disability payments to Sanchez while suit was pending. The worker's compensation case ended in a judgment for appellant based upon a jury finding that his disability was total and permanent.
In a second suit filed while the worker's compensation suit was pending, Sanchez brought action against NYUIC and Sampson, an employee of NYUIC, contending that they acted in bad faith by not continuing disability payments. NYUIC's motion for summary judgment raised only one ground that Sanchez had failed to state a cause of action because Texas courts do not recognize a duty on the part of a worker's compensation carrier to deal fairly and in good faith with the injured employee once the claim is in litigation. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of both appellees and Sanchez brings this appeal arguing that he was owed such a duty and there were material fact issues.
We sustain Sanchez' point of error and reverse and remand to the trial court because there is a duty of good faith and fair dealing on the part of worker's compensation carriers and the summary judgment proof does not establish as a matter of law that there was no genuine issue of fact as to one or more essential elements of Sanchez' cause of action.
Both sides cite the supreme court decision in Aranda v. Insurance Co. of North America, 748 S.W.2d 210, 212-13 (Tex.1988), wherein the court held that there is a duty on the part of worker's compensation carriers to deal fairly and in good faith with injured employees in the processing of compensation claims....
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New York Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Sanchez
...The court of appeals took jurisdiction of the cause as if there were a final judgment, and reversed and remanded the summary judgment. 788 S.W.2d 916. In fairness to the court of appeals, we note that the parties briefed the case as if the summary judgment were final and appealable, just as......