Motion for Summary Judgment Granted in Non-Subscriber Case Defended by Zach Mayer and Brian Fisher of Kane Russell Coleman & Logan PC
Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) December 31, 2014 -- On September 26, 2014, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Wichita Falls Division, entered summary judgment in favor of one of the country's largest food processors, according to court documents. The workplace injury lawsuit was brought by a former employee at the company's facility in Vernon, Texas. The Motion for Summary Judgment was filed by Zach T. Mayer and Brian J. Fisher of Kane Russell Coleman &Logan PC.
According to court documents, the Court determined that the former employee failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact on the issue of whether he previously agreed to exchange his right to sue his employer for medical and other benefits that were provided to him following the workplace injury incident.
In the lawsuit filed with the Court, former employee Billy Walkup alleged that the company's negligence was the cause of an on-the-job injury. Following the incident, Mr. Walkup elected to participate in the company's employee benefit plan, through which he received medical and other benefits in exchange for agreeing to resolve all disputes with his employer arising from the incident outside of the court system.
Trial transcripts show that Mr. Walkup argued that he either did not have knowledge of his agreement with his employer or, in the alternative, that he reached the agreement with his employer through duress. The Court noted in the judgment entered that because there was no evidence of artifice or trickery presented by Mr. Walkup, the common-law presumption that Mr. Walkup read and understood the agreement that he signed was applicable.
“Since becoming a nonsubscriber to the Texas Workers Compensation system, our client has modeled its program based upon the strict statutory requirements set forth in the Texas Labor Code,” said Zach Mayer, a Director at KRCL. “Due to the company’s diligence in both developing and presenting the details of the program to its employees, the company has experienced tremendous success in offering exceptional benefits to injured workers.”
“We’re very pleased the court concluded that our client complied with all statutory requirements,” added Brian Fisher, Senior Attorney at the firm. “This is another good outcome for our client. We have represented them in numerous similar cases and the company has obtained multiple summary judgments and defense verdicts throughout both Texas state and federal courts.”
Kane Russell Coleman & Logan PC is a full service law firm with offices in Dallas and Houston. Formed in 1992 with five lawyers, today KRCL has more than 85 attorneys. The Firm provides professional services for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to medium-sized public and private companies to entrepreneurs. KRCL handles transactional, litigation and bankruptcy matters in Texas and throughout the country.
SOURCE: Kane Russell Coleman & Logan, P.C.
CAUSE/CASE NO: 7:13-cv-0150-O
COURT: United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Wichita Falls Division
JUDGE: Honorable Reed O’Connor
Mallory Wendel, Sheley Marketing LLC, http://www.sheleymarketing.com, +1 214-446-3931, [email protected]
Share this article