Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code
§ 72.054 — LIABILITY FOR EMPLOYEE NEGLIGENCE IN OPERATING COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE
CP § 72.054Title 4. LIABILITY IN TORT · Ch. 72. LIABILITY OF MOTOR VEHICLE OWNER OR OPERATOR · Art. B. ACTIONS REGARDING COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES
Statute text
View on source(a)Except as provided by Subsection (d), in a civil action under this subchapter, an employer defendant's liability for damages caused by the ordinary negligence of a person operating the defendant's commercial motor vehicle shall be based only on respondeat superior if the defendant stipulates, within the time provided by Section 72.052 for filing a motion to bifurcate, that, at the time of the collision, the person operating the vehicle was:
(1)the defendant's employee; and
(2)acting within the scope of employment.
(b)Except as provided by Subsection (c), if an employer defendant stipulates in accordance with Subsection (a) and the trial is bifurcated under Section 72.052, a claimant may not, in the first phase of the trial, present evidence on an ordinary negligence claim against the employer defendant, such as negligent entrustment, that requires a finding by the trier of fact that the employer defendant's employee was negligent in operating a vehicle as a prerequisite to the employer defendant being found negligent in relation to the employee defendant's operation of the vehicle. This subsection does not prevent a claimant from presenting evidence allowed by Section 72.053(b).
(c)In a civil action under this subchapter in which an employer defendant is regulated by the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. No. 106-159) or Chapter 644, Transportation Code, a party may present any of the following evidence in the first phase of a trial that is bifurcated under Section 72.052 if applicable to a defendant in the action:
(1)whether the employee who was operating the employer defendant's commercial motor vehicle at the time of the collision that is the subject of the civil action:
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Legislative history
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 709 (H.B. 2190), Sec. 117, eff. September 1, 2023.