Fourth Court holds plaintiff’s premise defect claims cannot be brought as tangible personal property claims

City of San Antonio v. Nolan Anderson, 04-20-00320-CV (Tex.App.—San Antonio, March 10, 2021)

This is a Texas Tort Claims Act (“TTCA”) case where the Court of Appeals reversed the denial of the City’s plea to the jurisdiction and dismissed the claims with prejudice.

Plaintiff Anderson was on crutches and exiting a terminal at the San Antonio International Airport. There was deposition testimony that it was raining that day. He stated that he noticed a rubber mat outside the terminal door, that the ground was wet when he moved his crutches forward and fell, injuring himself. Anderson alleged both a condition/use of tangible personal property (by failing to use a slip-preventing mat) and, alternatively, a defective condition of the premises (because the City should have known it was raining and needed to have made safe an area where one would not expect to find water). During Anderson’s deposition, when asked if he had any reason to believe anyone from the City knew about the water before he fell, replied: “Not that I know of, no, sir.” The City filed a plea to the jurisdiction and a no-evidence motion for partial summary judgment. The trial court granted the summary judgment but denied the plea to the jurisdiction. The City then appealed the denial.

The Court of Appeals focused on Anderson’s apparent attempt to couch a premises defect claim as a tangible personal property claim. The TTCA clearly delineates between the two claims such that one claim cannot be both a condition/use of personal property and a premises defect. The former claim was succinctly dismissed because Anderson expressly alleges it is attributed to a failure to use a certain type of mat, which is not a valid claim under the TTCA. As to the latter, none of Anderson’s testimony created a fact issue as to whether City had any knowledge or notice of the water on the ground or mat, which is one required element for bringing forth a premises defect claim. As a result, the denial of the plea to the jurisdiction was reversed and Anderson’s claims were dismissed with prejudice.

If you would like to read this memorandum opinion, click here. Panel consists of Justices Chapa, Rodriguez, and Valenzuela. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Valenzuela.