Harris County, Texas v. Lori Annab
Harris County, Texas v. Lori Annab
Opinion
On November 14, 2011, Kenneth Caplan shot Lori Annab in a fit of road rage. Caplan was a Harris County deputy constable, but he was off duty when he committed this vicious crime. He fired his personal firearm from his personal vehicle, striking and injuring Annab. Caplan is now in prison serving a twenty-year sentence. These facts are undisputed.
Although Caplan was off duty and used his personal firearm in the assault, Annab sued Harris County, Caplan's employer. Invoking the Texas Tort Claims Act, Annab attempted to overcome Harris County's governmental immunity by claiming that Harris County used tangible personal property when Caplan shot Annab. The trial court granted the county's plea to the jurisdiction and dismissed the case. The court of appeals concluded that Annab had not established a waiver of governmental immunity but remanded the case to allow Annab to replead and conduct more discovery. We agree with the court of appeals that Annab has not established a waiver of governmental immunity because her allegations, taken as true, do not demonstrate that Harris County's use of tangible personal property caused her injuries. We disagree, however, with the court of appeals' decision to remand the case. Despite multiple opportunities to do so, Annab has *612 identified no viable factual or legal theory under which she could overcome the county's immunity on remand, and we can conceive of none. Remand was therefore improper. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals in part, reverse in part, and render judgment for Harris County.
I. Background
Annab sued Harris County in October 2015. Attempting to trigger the Tort Claims Act's limited waiver of governmental immunity, she alleged that Harris County's use of tangible personal property caused the injuries she suffered when Caplan shot her. The alleged use of tangible personal property was the county's decision to hire Caplan and "repeatedly approv[e]/authoriz[e] and qualify[ ] [Caplan] to have, possess, and use the Glock gun as a firearm." The county responded with a plea to the jurisdiction. The county made three arguments: (1) Annab's claims were excluded from the Tort Claims Act's immunity waiver because they arose from Caplan's intentional assault, (2) the use or misuse of information was not the "use of tangible personal property" under the Tort Claims Act, and (3) Caplan did not act within the scope of his employment, so "[n]o county property was used." The trial court permitted additional discovery into these issues prior to ruling on the plea to the jurisdiction. Annab deposed the county's representative, Deputy Chief Armando Tello, before the court granted the county's plea and dismissed the case.
Annab filed an interlocutory appeal. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE § 51.014(a)(8). The court of appeals found that Annab's allegations regarding the county's "use" of the firearm failed to establish a waiver of the county's immunity.
Annab v. Harris Cty.
,
II. Analysis
Sovereign immunity and governmental immunity are related common law doctrines protecting the government from suit.
Travis Cent. Appraisal Dist. v. Norman
,
Subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law that we review de novo.
A governmental unit such as Harris County may be sued if the Legislature has waived immunity in "clear and unambiguous language." TEX. GOV'T CODE § 311.034 ;
Oncor Elec. Delivery Co. v. Dall. Area Rapid Transit
,
"[S]ince 1973 we have consistently defined 'use' to mean 'to put or bring into action or service; to employ for or apply to a given purpose.' A governmental unit does not 'use' personal property merely by allowing someone else to use it and nothing more. If all 'use' meant were 'to make available,' the statutory restriction would have very little force."
San Antonio State Hosp. v. Cowan
,
Annab alleges that the county used Caplan's firearm by authorizing Caplan to use or possess the firearm. This allegation fails as a matter of law to trigger the Tort Claims Act's immunity waiver. Annab's primary allegation of "use" stems from the county's alleged "authorization" or "approval" of
Caplan's
use of his firearm. Stated another way, Annab alleges the county "made available" the firearm to
Caplan
, which
he
then
used
to cause her injuries. The allegation that the county made the firearm available to Caplan is at odds with the undisputed facts, as explained below. But even accepting the allegation at face value, Annab has not alleged "use" of the firearm by the county under the Tort Claims Act. We consistently have defined "use" to be more than making tangible personal property available for use by another. To use something, the governmental unit must "put [it] or bring [it] into action or service [or] employ [it] for or apply [it] to a given purpose."
Cowan
,
Annab also attempts to overcome Harris County's immunity by alleging that the county's various administrative decisions regarding Caplan's employment amount to the "use of tangible personal property." Annab points to Caplan's troubled employment history before and during his time as a constable. She alleges that Caplan's bad *614 acts prior to and during his employment demonstrate that the county should not have hired Caplan, should have fired Caplan, or should have withdrawn its authorization for him to possess his firearm while on duty. Although these allegations have little to do with the county's liability under the Tort Claims Act, they demonstrate that Caplan's record may not have made him the ideal candidate to be a peace officer. Caplan disclosed on his application that he had been fired from 12 of 21 prior jobs, that he was dismissed from the police academy for bad behavior, and that he required mood stabilizing medications. According to Annab, the county failed to investigate these events prior to hiring Caplan as a deputy constable and authorizing him to use his firearm while on duty. During his employment with the county, Caplan had two reported incidents of road rage. Annab complains that despite these acts, Caplan was neither terminated from employment nor prohibited from carrying his firearm during his duties.
In a different case, these allegations could have some relevance to a claim against a private employer. But Harris County is not a private employer. It is immune from suits such as Annab's unless the Legislature waives its immunity. The Legislature has chosen to waive the county's governmental immunity only in limited circumstances.
Kerrville State Hosp. v. Clark
,
Further, non-use is by definition not use. "It is well settled that mere nonuse of property does not suffice to invoke section 101.021(2)'s waiver. If it did, governmental immunity 'would be rendered a nullity,' because '[i]t is difficult to imagine a tort case which does not involve the use, or nonuse, of some item of real or personal property.' "
City of N. Richland Hills v. Friend
,
*615
In addition to their legal insufficiency, Annab's claims proceed from an untenable factual premise. Even if the county making the firearm available to Caplan were enough to waive the county's immunity-and it is not-the record demonstrates that the county did not make the firearm available to Caplan. Annab admits that Harris County does not issue firearms to deputy constables. Annab also admitted before the court of appeals that Caplan owned the firearm prior to his employment with the county.
Annab
,
Annab argues repeatedly that, but for the county's approval and authorization, Caplan would not have been able to carry and use his personal firearm. As explained above, approval and authorization does not constitute "use of tangible personal property" under our precedent, which requires the county be the user of the tangible personal property at the time of the injury. But in any event, Annab has not articulated how Caplan's right to possess his personal firearm on his personal time was dependent on the county's approval. See U.S. CONST. amend II ; TEX. CONST. , art. I, § 23. The county's policy on deputy constables' use of personal firearms actually functions in the opposite fashion; it assumes the deputy constable has the right to carry his personal firearm while off duty but attempts to impose controls on what kind of firearm deputy constables may carry. The policy also prohibits the carrying of a firearm to "locations where the primary business activity is the service of alcoholic beverages" and generally urges constables to exercise discretion when deciding where they carry their off duty firearm. The county's maintenance of this generic off duty firearms policy for all its deputy constables does not amount to approval or authorization of everything an individual deputy constable does with his personal firearm while off duty.
Despite this, Annab claims that Deputy Chief Tello admitted at his deposition that without the county's authorization Caplan could not have kept his firearm. But this testimony was cabined to Caplan's possession of the firearm during his duties as a constable. Certainly the county could have prevented Caplan from possessing or using the firearm while on duty. But the shooting occurred when Caplan was off duty. Tello testified at his deposition that the county's policies do not affect Caplan's right to carry a firearm while off duty:
Q. In reference to the authorization to use firearms, what is the purpose of authorizing a firearm?
A. First of all, we want to ensure that the deputy can show proficiency with the weapon, the approved weapon, for conducting his job.
Q. Is the authorization a license to carry that firearm?
A. No, sir.
Q. Does it have any effect on Mr. Caplan's or any other deputy's legal right to carry a firearm?
A. No, sir.
In sum, Annab's allegations that the county made the firearm available to Caplan and authorized or approved his possession and use of it are both legally insufficient and factually unsupportable. These allegations do not establish a waiver of immunity under the Tort Claims Act.
* * *
We turn next to whether the court of appeals correctly remanded the case to *616 afford Annab the opportunity to replead and conduct further discovery. As explained below, we conclude that remand was improper, and we render judgment for the county.
When a defendant raises a jurisdictional argument for the first time on appeal, remand may be appropriate to afford the plaintiff a "fair opportunity to address" the jurisdictional argument.
Rusk
,
The court of appeals remanded the case because it determined that the county raised arguments regarding the proper understanding of "use" under the Tort Claims Act for the first time on appeal.
Annab
,
Finally, we note that remand may also be appropriate when the plaintiff did not have a "full and fair opportunity in the trial court to develop the record."
III. Conclusion
Annab's allegations fail to trigger the Tort Claims Act's waiver of Harris County's *617 governmental immunity. Neither further discovery nor repleading could cure this defect. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals in part, reverse in part, and render judgment for Harris County. 1
The county also argued that the Tort Claims Act's waiver of immunity does not apply to claims arising from Caplan's intentional assault, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.057(2) (exempting claims "arising out of assault ... or any other intentional tort" from liability), and that the alleged use of tangible personal property by the county was not a proximate case of Annab's injuries. Our holding that Annab cannot successfully allege that the county used tangible personal property fully disposes of the case. We need not decide whether Annab's allegations also suffer from other defects.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HARRIS COUNTY, Texas, Petitioner, v. Lori ANNAB, Respondent
- Cited By
- 104 cases
- Status
- Published