Transportation Concepts, Inc. and Eloy Canales v. Brian Ramirez

COURT OF APPEALS EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS EL PASO, TEXAS TRANSPORTATION CONCEPTS, INC. § and ELOY CANALES, No. 08-24-00036-CV § Appellants, Appeal from the § v. 131st District Court § of Bexar County, Texas BRIAN RAMIREZ, § Appellee. (TC# 2021CI04603) § MEMORANDUM OPINION 1 Transportation Concepts, Inc. (TCI), and its employee-driver, Eloy Canales, appeal a trial court’s judgment awarding personal injury damages. Appellee Brian Ramirez filed suit against defendants after a collision between him and Canales that involved TCI’s 18-wheeler truck. Appellants raise six issues on appeal challenging, among other things, the legal validity of Ramirez’s negligent supervision claim against TCI and the sufficiency of the evidence in support of the jury’s findings. For the reasons laid out below, we reverse and render judgment in favor of 1 The appeal was transferred to this Court from the Fourth Court of Appeals pursuant to a Texas Supreme Court docket equalization order. Accordingly, we apply the Fourth Court of Appeals’ precedent to the extent it conflicts with our own. See Tex. R. App. P. 41.3 TCI on the theory of direct liability alleged against it. We reverse and remand for new trial on Ramirez’s claim against Canales. I. BACKGROUND On February 2, 2021, during a pre-dawn hour in Schertz, Texas, Canales was driving a tractor-trailer truck for TCI. Canales left an Amazon facility, heading towards Interstate 35 (I-35). As he drove on Verde Parkway, he came to a stop at the intersection of Verde Parkway and Schertz Parkway. Canales then executed an unprotected left-hand turn from Verde Parkway to travel east onto Schertz Parkway enroute to I-35. At the same time, Ramirez drove his white sedan west on Schertz Parkway on his way to work as a driver’s assistant. Before Canales completed the turn and while the trailer of his truck blocked the west lane of Verde Parkway traffic, Ramirez’s vehicle collided with the tandem axles near the rear of the trailer. Ramirez sustained injuries from the collision. Ramirez filed suit against Canales and TCI, alleging claims of negligence, negligent training, negligent supervision, and gross negligence. The case proceeded to a jury trial where multiple witnesses testified and numerous exhibits were admitted into evidence. In support of negligent supervision, Ramirez contended that TCI chose an unsafe route for Canales to travel in its tractor-trailer truck as he departed from the Amazon facility. He points to testimony of TCI’s operations manager, Jimmy Wren, who acknowledged he advised Canales to drive on Verde Parkway, not Mid Cities Parkway. Wren chose the route during the daytime and without viewing the area during darker hours. Ramirez’s expert, Roger Allen, testified that Mid Cities Parkway provided the safest route as a driver had a “straight shot” to the interstate and only needed to make a right turn. Allen described that he had reviewed TCI’s “Professional Truck Driver Training Program” (the Program), which advised against making unprotected left-hand 2 turns. Ramirez presented evidence establishing that TCI’s employees had not seen or heard of the Program. TCI countered with evidence of Canales’s qualifications and experience as a commercial truck driver. Although TCI acknowledged it had selected Canales’s route on the occasion in question, it nonetheless asserted its drivers were allowed to make route changes as needed or desired. TCI stipulated that Canales was acting within the course and scope of his employment at the time of the collision. Following Ramirez’s case in chief, Canales and TCI moved for a directed verdict on negligence per se against Canales, and on negligent supervision and negligent training against TCI. The trial court denied these motions. At the close of evidence and before the charge was submitted to the jury, Ramirez voluntarily dismissed his gross negligence claims against both TCI and Canales. The jury returned a verdict finding Ramirez, Canales, and TCI all negligent. In regard to TCI, the jury found T