law-class actions
Class Action Appeals
Bowden v. Phillips Petroleum Co., No. 03-0824 (Tex. Feb. 15, 2008)(Justice Wainwright)
(class action de-certification, royalty owners, interlocutory appeal)
KATHRYN AYLOR BOWDEN, BEULAH POORMAN VICK, OMER F. POORMAN, MONTE CLUCK, ROYCE
YARBROUGH, AND BENNY TED POWELL v. PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY, GPM GAS CORPORATION,
PHILLIPS GAS MARKETING COMPANY, PHILLIPS GAS COMPANY, AND GPM GAS TRADING COMPANY; from
Fort Bend County; 14th district (14-02-00634-CV, 108 S.W.3d 385, 05/01/03)
The Court reverses in part and affirms in part the court of appeals' judgment and remands the case to the trial
court.
Justice Wainwright delivered the opinion of the Court.
(Justice Brister not sitting)
Daimler Chrysler Corp. v. Inman, No. 03-1189 (Tex. Feb. 1, 2008)(Opinion by Justice Nathan Hecht)
(consumer law, product liability, class action dismissed on standing grounds, jurisdictional dismissal, DWOJ)
DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION v. BILL INMAN, DAVID CASTRO, AND JOHN WILKINS, EACH INDIVIDUALLY
AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED; from Nueces County; 13th district (13-02-00415-CV,
121 S.W.3d 862, 11/20/03)
The Court reverses the court of appeals' judgment and dismisses the case for want of jurisdiction. Justice Hecht
delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Justice Wainwright, Justice Brister, Justice Medina, and Justice Willett
joined.
Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson delivered a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Harriet O'Neill, Justice
Paul Green, and Justice Phil Johnson joined.
Best Buy Co. v. Barrera, No. 07-0028, 248 SW3d 160 (Tex. Nov. 30, 2007)(per curiam)(consumer law, class
de-certified)
COURT OF APPEALS CASES IN WHICH TEXAS SUPREME COURT DENIED REVIEW
07-0735 TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT v. MILBURN DEARING, KENNETH HEAD, AND MIKE
WARREN, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED; from Travis County; 3rd
district (03-05-00499-CV, 240 SW3d 330, 08-03-07, pet. denied June 2008) [Separate opinion in
03-05-00499-CV] (class action, interlocutory appeal, public employment, age discrimination, reclassification of
position)
This is an interlocutory appeal from the re-certification of a class action following this Court's reversal and remand
of the original certification order. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(3) (West 1997 & Supp.
2006). Appellees Milburn Dearing, Kenneth Head, and Mike Warren, individually and on behalf of others similarly
situated (collectively, Dearing), sued their employer, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, alleging a
disparate-impact theory of age discrimination under chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code in regard to the
Department's reclassification of their game-warden positions. See Texas Parks & Wildlife Dep't v. Dearing, 150
S.W.3d 452, 466 (Tex. App.--Austin 2004, pet. denied) (Dearing I), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 960 (2005); see also
Tex. Lab. Code Ann. § 21.051 (West 2006). The plaintiffs sought certification of a class of approximately 130
fellow game wardens whom they claim were similarly situated. Eighty-eight of the putative class members have
since intervened as plaintiffs. The district court denied a plea to the jurisdiction and summary-judgment motions
asserted by the Department and certified the class.