Limestone Products Distribution, Inc. v. McNamara

Coy Mathis’s car collided with Tom McNamara’s motorcycle, causing McNamara fatal injuries. Here, the issue is whether, when the accident occurred, Mathis worked as Limestone Products Distribution, Inc.’s independent contractor, or, if Mathis was Limestone’s employee, whether he was acting in the course and scope of his employment. McNamara’s survivors sued Mathis and Limestone alleging that Mathis’s negligence caused McNamara’s death. Limestone moved for summary judgment, asserting that it is not liable for Mathis’s negligence because he was an independent contractor when the accident occurred. Alternatively, Limestone argued that, if Mathis was an employee at the time the accident occurred, he was not acting in the course and scope of his employment. Without specifying the grounds, the trial court granted Limestone’s motion. On rehearing, a divided court of appeals reversed the summary judgment and remanded the case to the trial court. __ S.W.3d __. It determined that a fact issue existed on: (1) whether Mathis was an independent contractor or Limestone’s employee; and (2) if Mathis was a Limestone employee, whether Mathis was on a special mission and thus acting in the course and scope of his employment when the accident occurred. __ S.W.3d at __.

The court of appeals correctly stated the law that applies in this case. However, the court of appeals improperly applied that law to the summary-judgment evidence and incorrectly resolved the independent contractor issue. Thus, we reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and render judgment that McNamara’s survivors take nothing from Limestone.