Schneider Elec. USA, Inc. v. Ramirez

657 S.W.3d 157

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC USA, INC. d/b/a Schneider Electric, Appellant,

v.Maria RAMIREZ, Appellee.

No. 08-21-00145-CV

Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso.

August 11, 2022

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: Andrew M. Gould, Wick, Phillips, Gould & Martin, LLP, 3131 McKinney Ave Ste 500, Dallas, TX 75204-2441.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: Andrew M. Gould, Wick, Phillips, Gould & Martin, LLP, 3131 McKinney Ave Ste 500, Dallas, TX 75204-2441.

Before Rodriguez, C.J., Palafox, and Alley, JJ.

OPINION

JEFF ALLEY, Justice

A "person" may not discharge or discriminate against an employee because the employee, among other actions, files in good faith a workers’ compensation claim. TEX.LAB.CODE ANN. § 451.001(1) (Chapter 451). This permissive appeal asks how that provision applies to a temporary employee who alleges she was discharged by her staffing agency at a client company's request. More specifically, Appellee Maria Ramirez brought a Chapter 451 claim against the client company—Appellant, Schneider Electric USA, Inc. (Schneider Electric)—when it allegedly caused her discharge after she pursued a work-place injury claim. Schneider Electric moved for summary judgment claiming that while it carried workers’ compensation insurance for its own permanent employees, it did not provide its temporary workers, including Ramirez, workers’ compensation coverage. Thus, it claimed that it could not be held liable under Chapter 451 as a matter of law. The trial court denied Schneider Electric's summary judgment, but granted leave to file a permissive appeal to determine whether Schneider Electric can be held liable to Ramirez under Chapter 451. For the following reasons, we reverse and render judgment dismissing Ramirez's Chapter 451 claim against Schneider Electric.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Schneider Electric operates a manufacturing facility in El Paso, Texas. It contracts with various staffing companies, such as Aerotek, Inc., to supply it with temporary contract personnel. Aerotek hired Ramirez in November 2017 and assigned her to work at Schneider Electric's El Paso facility. Schneider Electric trained Ramirez and had at least some authority to recommend discipline of temporary employees to Aerotek. Ramirez characterizes the relationship somewhat differently, contending that Aerotek "outsources" the personnel decision of when to end Ramirez's assignment to Schneider Electric.

On April 7, 2018, Schneider Electric's senior manufacturing supervisor, Cesar Hernandez, sent an email to Ben Diaz, its Human Resources manager, stating that Ramirez left work early because she was overwhelmed at having to torque nuts for two consecutive days (described as a very physically demanding job). Hernandez's email also stated that Ramirez was assigned that task by her two immediate supervisors, Jesus Estrada and Santiago Segovia, because she twice had failed to put on her insulated safety gloves.

Schneider had adopted a strict policy against those found not wearing the required safety attire after a previous Schneider employee died from electrical shock during a testing procedure. Hernandez concluded the email, stating "After talking with Jesus and Santiago on Friday, adding the events of today and considering that her hiring timeframe is approaching, I recommend to let her go and not pursuit [sic] her hiring." Within a few minutes of Hernandez's email, Ben Diaz emailed Aerotek's representative stating "Please end her assignment."

The next day, Hernandez alerted Diaz that Ramirez had reported to work, but claimed she had a sore shoulder and back. He directed her to the Safety Department. On April 9th, Ramirez completed an Aerotek incident report, claiming she injured her neck, shoulder, and back on April 7 from having to "torque 65 lbs" over a two day period. By that time she had seen a physician who placed a "no work" restriction on her activities. Ramirez alleges that by April 19, both Aerotek and Schneider Electric were in receipt of a form showing that Ramirez was pursuing a workers’ compensation claim. The claim was made, however, under Aerotek's workers compensation policy. Although Schneider Electric insures its own permanent employees, it does not provide coverage under its policy to temporary personnel on assignment from one of the staffing companies. Rather, Aerotek covers its own workers under Aerotek's workers’ compensation policy while they are working for Schneider Electric, and Aerotek's policy does not name Schneider Electric as the insured.

Ramirez's employment with Aerotek was terminated on April 20th. Ramirez subsequently sued Schneider Electric and Aerotek alleging disability discrimination, sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act. She also asserted a Chapter 451 claim, contending that both companies "discriminated, retaliated against, and fired [her] for filing a Workers’ Compensation claim." Aerotek removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, but Ramirez's Chapter 451 claims were severed and remanded to state court.

Once back in state court, both Aerotek and Schneider Electric moved for summary judgment on Ramirez's Chapter 451 claim. Aerotek's motion principally argued that it terminated Ramirez based on its belief that she violated a Schneider Electric safety rule, which it argued was a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for her termination that she cannot show was a mere pretext for an unlawful motive. The trial court granted Aerotek's motion and dismissed the claim against Aerotek with prejudice.¹

Schneider Electric filed a traditional motion for summary judgment, arguing that under the holdings in Texas Mexican Ry. Co. v. Bouchet , 963 S.W.2d 52 (Tex. 1998) and Burton v. Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. , 798 F.3d 222 (5th Cir. 2015), Ramirez's Chapter 451 fails as a matter of law because Schneider Electric never provided workers’ compensation coverage to Ramirez. The trial court denied Schneider Electric's motion. But the court also allowed Schneider Electric to pursue a permissive appeal for this question: "whether Schneider Electric can be liable to Plaintiff for workers’ compensation discrimination pursuant to Chapter 451 since Schneider Electric did not provide Plaintiff workers’ compensation coverage but does provide workers’ compensation coverage to its direct employees." We granted Schneider Electric the right to pursue a permissive appeal from the denial of its motion for summary judgment. See TEX.CIV.PRAC. & REM.CODE ANN. § 51.014(d) and (f) (authorizing and setting forth standards for permissive appeals).

In its sole issue, Schneider Electric repeats its argument in its motion for summary judgment—Chapter 451 does not provide for a claim against a client company for a temporary worker who pursues workers’ compensation benefits through her staffing agency employer, and who was not covered under workers’ compensation by the client company.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

We review a trial court's order granting summary judgment de novo. Cmty. Health Sys. Prof'l Servs. Corp. v. Hansen , 525 S.W.3d 671, 680 (Tex. 2017). When a party with the burden of proof moves for traditional summary judgment, that party "bears the burden to conclusively establish that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, notwithstanding the nonmovant's response or lack thereof." B.C. v. Steak N Shake Operations, Inc. , 598 S.W.3d 256, 258-59 (Tex. 2020), citing TEX.R.CIV.P. 166a(c). A matter is conclusively established when "reasonable people could not differ in their conclusions ...." City of Keller v. Wilson , 168 S.W.3d 802, 816 (Tex. 2005). We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant, indulge every reasonable inference in favor of the non-movant, and resolve any doubts against the motion. Id. at 824.

B. Applicable Law

Although Texas does not require private employers to provide workers’ compensation insurance, it incentivizes them to do so. Port Elevator-Brownsville v. Casados , 358 S.W.3d 238, 241 (Tex. 2012). Private employers lose many common-law defenses in work-injury lawsuits if they do not subscribe, and are generally protected from ordinary negligence suits if they do. TEX.LAB.CODE ANN. § 406.033 (abolishing certain common-law defenses for non-subscribing employers); Id. § 408.001(a) (providing that "[r]ecovering workers’ compensation benefits is the exclusive remedy of an employee covered by workers compensation insurance coverage"). And in the unique context of temporary employees, both the staffing agency and the client company can gain the benefit of the exclusive remedy bar, because an employee may have more than one employer for the purposes of the exclusive remedy defense. See Garza v. Exel Logistics, Inc. , 161 S.W.3d 473, 475-76 (Tex. 2005) ; Wingfoot Enters. v. Alvarado , 111 S.W.3d 134, 142 (Tex. 2003). In Garza , for instance, the court held that a temporary employee was the client's employee as a matter of law (and thus a potential beneficiary of the exclusive remedy defense) because, the "undisputed evidence" showed that at the time of injury, the temporary employee was (1) working on the client's premises, (2) in the furtherance of the client's day-to-day business, and (3) the details of his work that caused his injury were specifically directed by the client. Garza , 161 S.W.3d at 477. That said, the court reversed and remanded the case because the client company did not show that it was "covered by workers’ compensation insurance coverage" for a "work-related injury sustained by the employee," which is a "prerequisite to the application of the exclusive remedy provision in section 408.001(a)." Id. at 481.

The Act also protects a worker's right to pursue workers’ compensation benefits. Chapter 451 acts "to protect persons entitled to benefits under the Act and to prevent them from being discharged for seeking to collect those benefits."

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