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Port Elevator-Brownsville L.L.C v. Casados

Rafael Casados suffered a fatal, work-related injury while working for two employers that both had workers' compensation coverage. Casados' parents sued one of the employers. A jury found Port Elevator negligent but not grossly negligent, and a court of appeals affirmed. Because Port Elevator subscribed to workers' compensation insurance, Casados was an employee of Port Elevator, and he suffered a work-related injury, the Texas Workers' Compensation Act provided remedy against Texas Mutual was the exclusive remedy for his injury. The court of appeals' judgment is reversed and rendered. Texas Supreme Court, No. 10-0523, 01-27-2012.

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Argued October 6, 2011

JUSTICE GUZMAN delivered the opinion of the Court.

Rafael Casados suffered a fatal, work-related injury while working for two employers that both had workers’ compensation coverage. Casados’s parents sued one of the employers. The principal issue in this case is whether workers’ compensation was the exclusive remedy to Casados’s parents, which would bar their suit against Port Elevator. The court of appeals held that the policy at issue did not cover Casados because he was a temporary worker and affirmed the judgment Casados’s parents obtained against Port Elevator. 314 S.W.3d 529, 540. We have long held that the Labor Code and the rule against split workforces require employers to elect workers’ compensation coverage for all employees–except for limited statutory and common-law exceptions that do not apply here. Because Port Elevator had a workers’ compensation policy, Casados was an employee, he suffered a work-related injury, and the jury failed to find Port Elevator grossly negligent, the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act (TWCA) provides that the exclusive remedy is against the employer’s insurer–not the employer. Accordingly, the claim at issue in this appeal is barred, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals, and render judgment for Port Elevator.

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