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Central Counties Center for Mental Health & Mental Retardation Services v. Rodriguez3/29/2001
As amended August 9, 2001
Appellants Central Counties Center for Mental Health & Mental Retardation Services (the "Center") and Austin State Hospital (the "Hospital") bring these interlocutory appeals from the district courts' orders denying their pleas to the jurisdiction in suits filed by appellees Karen Rodriguez in the first case and Debbie Fiske and Raymond Rodriguez in the second. Because the cases' outcome depends on this Court's determination of the same issue, we have consolidated them for oral argument and will deliver one opinion. Karen Rodriguez filed suit against the Center for personal injuries, including sexual exploitation by a Center employee. Fiske and Raymond Rodriguez sued the Hospital for damages they suffered and on behalf of their son, Christopher Roy Rodriguez, who committed suicide while he was a patient at the Hospital. We will affirm the district courts' orders denying appellants' pleas to the jurisdiction.
DISCUSSION
Because the determination of subject-matter jurisdiction is a question of law, we review the trial court's decision de novo. Texas State Employees Union/CWA Local 6184 A.F.L.C.I.O. v. Texas Workforce Comm'n, 16 S.W.3d 61, 65 (Tex. App.-Austin 2000, no pet.) (citing Mayhew v. Town of Sunnyvale, 964 S.W.2d 922, 928 (Tex. 1998)). The absence of subject-matter jurisdiction may be raised in a plea to the jurisdiction. Bland ISD v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 554 (Tex. 2000). A plea to the jurisdiction is a dilatory plea, the purpose of which is to defeat a cause of action without regard to whether the claims asserted have merit. Id. Immunity from suit is properly asserted in a plea to the jurisdiction. Texas Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638-39 (Tex. 1999).
Generally, sovereign immunity, unless waived, protects the State, its agencies, and its officials from lawsuits for damages, absent legislative consent to sue the State. See Federal Sign v. Texas S. Univ., 951 S.W.2d 401, 405 (Tex. 1997). Sovereign immunity embraces two principles: immunity from suit and immunity from liability. Id. Legislative consent to suit or liability must be "by clear and unambiguous language." Id.
Statutory construction is a question of law, Johnson v. City of Fort Worth, 774 S.W.2d 653, 656 (Tex. 1989), the resolution of which must begin by looking to the statute's words. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Garrison Contractors, Inc., 966 S.W.2d 482, 484 (Tex. 1998). "The goal of statutory construction is to give effect to the intent of the legislature." Monsanto Co. v. Cornerstones Mun. Util. Dist., 865 S.W.2d 937, 939 (Tex. 1993) (citing Harris County Dist. Attorney's Office v. J.T.S., 807 S.W.2d 572, 574 (Tex. 1991)). Simply stated, where a statute is unambiguous, we discern the legislature's intent from the "plain and common meaning of the words and terms used." Id. (citing Moreno v. Sterling Drug, Inc., 787 S.W.2d 348, 352 (Tex. 1990); RepublicBank Dallas, N.A. v. Interkal, Inc., 691 S.W.2d 605, 607 (Tex. 1985)).
The cases before the Court require us to construe the Texas Health and Safety Code (the "Code"). See Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 321.001-.003, 571.003 (West Supp. 2001). Appellants contend that the Code does not reflect the clear and unambiguous waiver of their immunity from suit. Appellees answer that the legislature expressly waived immunity from suits based on violations of the Code by providing that a patient harmed while under the care of a mental health facility "may sue" the facility for damages and other relief. See id. § 321.003(b).
Code section 321.003 reflects the legislature's clear and unambiguous waiver of both immunity from liability and immunity from suit. Id. § 321.003. S
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