Opinion issued May 22, 2012.
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-11-00133-CV
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The CITY Of houston, Appellant
V.
blanco vallejo and anjel flores, Appellees
On Appeal from the 113th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Case No. 2009-69087
CONCURRING OPINION
This Court has already decided the issue presented in this case: whether the Tort Claims Act’s election-of-remedies provision bars a plaintiff’s tort claims against a governmental unit when the plaintiff initially sued both the governmental unit and its employee.See City of Houston v. Esparza, No. 01–11–00046–CV, 2011 WL 4925990, at *5–10(Tex. App.—Houston [1stDist.] Oct. 7, 2011, pet. filed).[1]I would follow this Court’s controlling precedent and affirm the trial court’s denial of the city’s plea to the jurisdiction.
I therefore concur in the Court’s opinion.
Harvey Brown
Justice
Panel consists of Justices Jennings, Sharp, and Brown.
Justice Brown, concurring.
[1] Since its issuance, this Court has consistently followed Esparza.See, e.g.,City of Houston v. Gwinn, No. 01-11-00524-CV, 2012 WL 1068591, at *1–2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Mar. 29, 2012, no. pet. h.) (mem. op.) (following Esparza); Metro. Transit Auth. v. Light, No. 01-11-00747-CV, 2012 WL 252187, at *1–2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 26, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op.) (same); City of Houston v. Tsaig, No. 01-11-00432-CV, 2012 WL 170606, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 19, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op.) (same); Tex. Dep’t of Aging & Disability Servs. v. Johnson, No. 01-11-00526-CV, 2012 WL 27728, at *2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 5, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op.) (same); City of Houston v. Marquez, No. 01-11-00493-CV, 2011 WL 6147772, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 8, 2011, no pet.)(mem. op.) (same); City of Houston v. McClain, No. 01-11-00194-CV, 2011 WL 6015697, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 1, 2011, pet. filed) (mem. op.) (same); City of Houston v. San Miguel, No. 01–10–01071–CV, 2011 WL 5429048, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Nov. 10, 2011, no. pet. h.) (mem. op.) (same). Several other courts of appeals have also followed Esparza. See, e.g., Tex. Tech Univ. Health Scis. Ctr. v. Villagran, No. 07-11-0257-CV, 2012 WL 967366, at *7 (Tex. App.—Amarillo Mar. 22, 2012, no. pet. h.); Tex. Dep’t of Pub. Safety, No. 04-11-00271-CV, 2012 WL 726916, at *4–7 (Tex. App.—San Antonio March 7, 2012, no pet. h.).