A trial court correctly determined that a Texas nursing professor did not have to first file a workers’ compensation claim before suing a campus police officer after the woman was hit by a cruiser in a school parking lot, an appeals court ruled.
The Texas Court of Appeals, Thirteenth District, on Thursday upheld a judge’s decision denying a move by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to dismiss Rita Oteka’s personal injury lawsuit because she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies before going to civil court.
Oteka was injured in May 2019 after being hit by a university police vehicle while walking through a parking lot after attending a graduation ceremony.
The university, a self-insured employer, informed Oteka about workers̵
7; compensation, but Oteka said she would use private insurance.The university then denied comp coverage, according to the ruling.
Oteka sued for negligence in December 2020, and the university argued that Oteka failed to exhaust his exclusive remedy under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act and that jurisdiction should lie with the state Department of Labor, not a trial court.
The insurer did not accept coverage until after Oteka filed its negligence claim and two and a half years after the incident.
Oteka claimed she was not in the course and scope of her employment when she was hit by the police car in the parking lot on graduation day.
The district court agreed with Oteka and the university appealed.
The Court of Appeals held that the trial judge correctly determined Oteka’s claim is not based on her eligibility for compensatory benefits and that she was not required to exhaust her administrative remedies before the Division of Workers’ Compensation before commencing a civil action.
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