Plaintiff’s notice was sufficient under § 101.101 of TTCA

Metro. Transit Auth. of Harris County v. Hunter, 14-18-00822-CV, (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Aug. 18, 2020, no pet. h.)

This is an interlocutory appeal from the denial of a plea to the jurisdiction in a slip/fall case filed against Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (Metro).  The Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmed the denial.

Metro filed a plea to the jurisdiction asserting that Plaintiff, Bridget Hunter’s (“Hunter”), personal injury suit was jurisdictionally barred because she to failed provide proper notice under the Texas Tort Claims Act. Hunter filed her personal injury suit against Metro within six months of the incident made the basis of her suit. Metro, while acknowledging a notice was filed within six months, argued it failed to have all the minimum statutory requirements. The trial court denied Metros’ plea and Metro appealed.

The court found that Hunter’s petition met all Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA) statutory notice requirements. Specifically, she alleged (1) the damage or injury claimed, that Hunter “suffered serious personal injuries,” and that she was also seeking damages. She alleged the time and place of the incident by alleging that she sustained personal injuries on February 20, 2017, on a bus in Harris County, Texas, while the “bus driver was driving bus route 028 within the course and scope of employment for Defendant METRO. Plaintiff was picked up at Stop Id: 12198 approximately at 8:30 A.M. on February 20, 2017.” “After Plaintiff boarded the bus, she slipped and fell on a watery substance twice. Subsequently, the bus driver negligently continued driving after seeing that Plaintiff had fallen.” The court found that the language contained in Hunter’s first amended petition met the TTCA’s explicit notice requirement and affirmed the trial court’s denial of Metro’s plea.

If you would like to read this opinion click here. Panel consists of Justices Zimmerer, Spain, and Hassan. Opinion by Justice Spain.