South East Texas Regional Planning Commission v. Byrdson Services, LLC

In South East Texas Regional Planning Commission v. Byrdson Services, LLC, 454 S.W.3d 581, 583 (Tex. App.--Beaumont Jan. 22, 2015, pet. filed), the Court held that the trial court should have granted the planning commission's plea to the jurisdiction. In that case, Byrdson entered into various contracts with individual homeowners and the planning commission. Id. at 583, 587. Under the contracts, Byrdson agreed to perform repair work on homes that had been damaged by Hurricane Ike using money from a limited public fund. Id. at 588. The planning commission was obligated to oversee the projects and disburse funds for the repairs in accordance with the contract terms. Id. Byrdson brought suit based on the planning commission's alleged failure to pay Byrdson for services it had provided to homeowners and for the commission's cancellation of Byrdson's contracts. Id. at 591. Byrdson alleged the planning commission had waived immunity for breach of the contract claims under section 271.152. Id. at 584. The Court concluded that Byrdson was obligated under the contracts to provide repair work to the homeowners that signed the contracts and not to the planning commission. Id. at 588. The court rejected Byrdson's claim that the planning commission had waived its immunity because the contracts required Byrdson to indemnify the planning commission from any potential third-party claims and to warrant its work. Id. at 588-90. The court explained that any benefits the planning commission might enjoy from these provisions were contingent and indirect. Id. at 590. Because Byrdson's lawsuit was not based on claims under a contract to provide goods and services to a local governmental entity, the trial court should have dismissed the suit based on governmental immunity. Id. at 591.