4 DG's Corp. v. City of Lockney

In 4 DG's Corp. v. City of Lockney, 853 S.W.2d 855, 857 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 1993, no writ), the owner of a house near a governmental unit's sewage-removal pumps sued the governmental unit when a power outage caused the pumps to fail. Id. at 856. Sewage backed up into the owner's house, and the owner alleged that an employee of the governmental unit negligently failed to determine whether the pumps were operable after the power stopped. Id. The court of appeals reversed the trial court's summary judgment for the governmental unit based on sovereign immunity, reasoning that the sewage pumps, which were "energized by motors, and . . . used in the city's operation of its sanitary sewer system," could fit within the meaning of "motor- driven equipment." Id. at 857.