Dal-Briar Corp. v. Baskette

In Dal-Briar Corp. v. Baskette, 833 S.W.2d 612 (Tex. App.--El Paso 1992, orig. proceeding), three former Dal- Briar employees alleged that Dal-Briar terminated their employment as part of a common scheme or practice to discriminate against workers who filed a workers' compensation claim. Id. at 614. The trial court consolidated the cases of those three employees. Id. Granting the petition for a writ of mandamus and ordering the trial court to vacate the consolidation order, the court of appeals concluded Dal-Briar did not have an adequate remedy by appeal because it would not be possible "to untangle how or whether prejudice and confusion infected the jury's deliberations." Id. at 617. The Dal-Briar court was concerned that on appellate review the court would not be able to determine whether the jury returned a favorable verdict for each plaintiff based on evidence of wrongs relevant to another plaintiff's case, whether the jury believed there must be misdeeds on the part of the defendant based merely on sheer numbers, or whether the jury was hesitant to return a favorable verdict for one plaintiff without finding in favor of all plaintiffs. Id.