PJC General Negligence 2022

B ASIC N EGLIGENCE Q UESTIONS

PJC 4.3

Entrustor. See PJC 10.12 comment, “Caveat when both entrustor and entrustee are joined.” Employer immunity under Workers’ Compensation Act. Changes in the law of proportionate responsibility and how “responsible third party” is defined affecting cases filed on or after July 1, 2003, may require that the responsibility of an employer, even one covered by worker’s compensation insurance, be submitted to the jury for its consideration. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §33.011; In re Unitec Elevator Ser vices Co. , 178 S.W.3d 53, 58 n.5 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2005, orig. proceed ing); see also In re Lewis Casing Crews, Inc. , No. 11-14-00137-CV, 2014 WL 3398170, at *4 n.2 (Tex. App.—Eastland July 10, 2014, orig. proceeding). Second comparative question for contribution defendant. If the case includes a contribution defendant (see PJC 4.1 comment, “Contribution defendant”), a second comparative question is necessary. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.016(c). See PJC 4.4. In such a case the following sentence should be added at the end of the instruc tional paragraph beginning “Assign percentages . . . ”: If you answered “Yes” as to Connie Contributor in Question[ s ] ______ [ applicable liability question(s) ], you will be asked to attri bute the percentage of responsibility as to Connie Contributor in Question ______ [ proportionate responsibility question ].

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