IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS
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No. 07-0743
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Texas
Department of Transportation, Petitioner,
v.
Jimmy
Don York,
Individually and on Behalf of the Estate of Rebecca York, Deceased and James R.
Bodiford, Jr., Individually and on Behalf of the
Estate of Rebecca York, Tonya Bodiford, and Shirley
Fowler, Respondents
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On Petition for Review from the
Court of Appeals for the Tenth District of Texas
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PER CURIAM
In
this case, we decide whether loose gravel on a road is a “special defect” under
Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code section 101.022(b). We hold that
loose gravel is not a special defect as a matter of law, and therefore, reverse
the court of appeals’ judgment and remand to the trial court.
On October 29, 2003, Rebecca York
lost control of her vehicle while crossing a patch of loose gravel on Farm-to-Market Road
979 in Robertson
County. She crossed the
center line and struck an oncoming truck. She died at the scene. The day before
the accident, a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
crew had applied a spot seal coat on the portion of highway where the accident
occurred. A spot seal application consists of three steps: (1) liquid asphalt
is sprayed onto the road surface; (2) a layer of gravel (or aggregate) is
spread on top of the asphalt; and (3) the gravel is rolled into the asphalt.
The asphalt then hardens to hold the gravel in place and form a new road
surface. By the time York
reached the serviced patch of road the next morning, however, the road surface
was covered with a layer of loose gravel approximately one-half to
three-quarters inches deep. The cause of the presence of the excess loose
gravel is disputed.
York’s surviving spouse filed a wrongful
death suit against TxDOT. TxDOT asserted
sovereign immunity against suit and liability, except to the extent waived
under the Tort Claims Act. After the presentation of arguments and evidence,
the trial court submitted a jury charge with a special defect instruction,
rather than a premise defect instruction. The jury returned a verdict in York’s favor, awarding
damages of $1,033,440. Pursuant to statutory limitations, the verdict was
reduced to $250,000. TxDOT moved for judgment
notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial, which the trial court denied. TxDOT then appealed the judgment to the court of appeals,
arguing that loose gravel is not a special defect, but rather, a premise
defect. The court of appeals disagreed, holding that the loose gravel is a
special defect and affirming the trial court’s judgment. 234
S.W.3d at 218. We reverse.
The State of Texas is protected from suits for damages by
sovereign immunity, unless waived by statute. Gen. Servs.
Comm’n v.
Little-Tex Insulation Co., Inc., 39 S.W.3d 591,
594 (Tex. 2001); Tex. Dep’t of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d
636, 638 (Tex.
1999) (per curiam). Legislative consent to waive sovereign
immunity by statute must be by “clear and unambiguous language,” TEX. GOV’T CODE §
311.034, and suit can then be brought “only in the manner indicated by that
consent.” Wichita Falls State Hosp. v. Taylor, 106 S.W.3d 692, 694 (Tex. 2003) (citing Hosner
v. DeYoung, 1 Tex. 764, 769 (1847)). “[W]hen construing a
statute that purportedly waives sovereign immunity, we
generally resolve ambiguities by retaining immunity.” Wichita Falls State
Hosp., 106 S.W.3d at 697.
The
Texas Legislature has waived sovereign immunity for personal injury claims
arising from a premise defect. Tex. Civ.
Prac. & Rem. Code §
101.021. Former section 101.022 of the Texas Civil
Practices and Remedies Code applied
different duties of care to a suit depending on whether the condition was a
premise defect or a special defect:
(a) If a claim
arises from a premise defect, the governmental unit owes to the claimant only
the duty that a private person owes to a licensee on private property, unless
the claimant pays for the use of the premises.
(b) The limitation
of duty in this section does not apply to the duty to warn of special defects
such as excavations or obstructions on highways, roads, or streets or to the
duty to warn of the absence, condition, or malfunction of traffic signs,
signals, or warning devices as is required by Section 101.060.
Act of May 17, 1985, 69th Leg.,
R.S., ch. 959, 1985 Tex. Gen. Laws 3242, 3303
(amended 2005) (current version at Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.022)
(hereinafter § 101.022). If
a claim involves a premise defect under section (a), a licensee standard
applies. Tex. Civ Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.022(a); see
also State Dep’t of Highways & Public Transp.
v. Payne, 838 S.W.2d 235, 237 (Tex.
1992). Under a licensee standard, a plaintiff must
prove the governmental unit had actual knowledge of a condition that created an
unreasonable risk of harm, and also that the licensee did not have actual
knowledge of that same condition. Payne, 838 S.W.2d at
237. But if a claim involves a special defect under section (b), a more
lenient invitee standard applies. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.
Code § 101.022(b). Under
an invitee standard, the plaintiff need only prove that the governmental unit
should have known of a condition that created an unreasonable risk of harm. Payne, 838 S.W.2d at 237; see also State Dep’t of
Highways & Pub. Transp. v. Kitchen,
867 S.W.2d 784, 786 (Tex.
1993) (per curiam) (“Absent a finding that the State knew of the dangerous
condition prior to the accident, it is not liable to plaintiffs unless the
condition was a special defect.”). Whether a condition is a
premise defect or special defect is a question of law, which we review de novo.
Payne, 838 S.W.2d at 238.
The Civil Practices and Remedies
Code does not define “special defect,” but does give guidance by likening
special defects to “excavations or obstructions.” See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.
Code § 101.022(b). Thus,
“[u]nder the ejusdem generis rule, we are to construe ‘special defect’ to
include those defects of the same kind or class as [excavations or
obstructions].” County of Harris v. Eaton, 573 S.W.2d 177, 179 (Tex. 1978). While
these specific examples “are not exclusive and do not exhaust the class,” the
central inquiry is whether the condition is of the same kind or falls within
the same class as an excavation or obstruction. Id.; City of
Grapevine v. Roberts, 946 S.W.2d
841, 843 (Tex.
1997) (per curiam). A special defect, then, cannot be a condition that
falls outside of this class. See Payne, 838 S.W.2d at 238, n.3 (“[T]o
the extent [courts] classify as ‘special’ a defect that is not like an
excavation or obstruction on a roadway, we disapprove of them.”); Eaton,
573 S.W.2d at 179 (“The statutes provide an understanding of the kinds of
dangerous conditions against which the [L]egislature
intended to protect the public. They are expressed as such things ‘as excavations
or roadway obstructions.’”). We have recognized some characteristics of this
class that should be considered. See Eaton, 573 S.W.2d at 179 (“the size
of the dangerous condition”); see also City of Dallas v. Reed, 258
S.W.3d 620, 622 (Tex. 2008) (per curiam) (“some unusual quality outside the
ordinary course of events”); State v. Rodriguez, 985 S.W.2d 83, 85 (Tex.
1999) (per curiam) (something that “unexpectedly and physically impair[s] a
car’s ability to travel on the road”); Payne, 838 S.W.2d at 238 (“an
unexpected and unusual danger to ordinary users of roadways”).
A
layer of loose gravel on a road does not share the characteristics we have
articulated in any of the above cases, and, thus, does not fit within the same
class as an obstruction or excavation. Loose gravel does not form a hole in the
road or physically block the road like an obstruction or excavation. See
Eaton, 573 S.W.2d at 178-80 (holding that a large hole six to ten inches
deep and four to nine feet wide covering ninety percent of the road’s width was
a special defect, and suggesting an avalanche clogging a mountain road would
likewise be a special defect); see also State v. Williams, 940 S.W.2d
583, 585 (Tex. 1996) (deferring to the court of appeals’s
finding that a street sign lying in middle of a highway was a special defect).
Likewise, less than an inch of loose gravel does not “physically impair a car’s
ability to travel on the road” in the manner that an excavated road or
obstruction blocking the road does, Rodriguez, 985 S.W.2d at 85, nor
does it present the same type of “unexpected and unusual danger to ordinary
users of roadways” as does this class. Payne, 838
S.W.2d at 238. And while loose gravel could fall within this class if,
for example, a sizeable mound of gravel were left on the roadway, a layer of
loose gravel falls in the same class as ordinary premise defects—those
conditions that do not reach the level of an obstruction or excavation. See,
e.g., Reed, 258 S.W.3d at 622 (holding that a two-inch difference in
elevation between traffic lanes on a roadway was not a special defect);
Rodriguez, 985 S.W.2d at 86 (holding that a ninety-degree turn in a detour
from a road construction project was not a special defect); Kitchen 867
S.W.2d at 786-87 (holding that an icy bridge was not a special defect); Payne,
838 S.W.2d at 239 (holding that a culvert beneath a roadway was not a special
defect).
The trial court applied the wrong
duty of care in this case. The jury charge did not contain a premise defect
instruction, so the jury did not have an opportunity to determine liability
under that stricter licensee standard. The record reflects conflicting
testimony as to whether TxDOT had actual knowledge of
the loose gravel, and whether York
did not have actual knowledge of it. Therefore, the question of whether TxDOT satisfied the licensee standard of care should go to
the fact finder. See Tex. Dep’t of Parks and Wildlife v. Miranda, 133
S.W.3d 217, 226 (Tex. 2004) (“[I]n some cases, disputed evidence of
jurisdictional facts that also implicate the merits of the case may require
resolution by the finder of fact.”); Keetch v.
Kroger Co., 845 S.W.2d 262, 266 (Tex. 1992) (“Proof that the premises owner
or occupier created a condition which poses an unreasonable risk of harm may
constitute circumstantial evidence that the owner or occupier knew of the
condition.”). Because of this, we reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and
remand the case for a new trial applying the premise defect standard.
OPINION
DELIVERED: December 5, 2008