Doyle wins in suit by Texas Mutual Insurance Company

Today, the Honorable Judge Michael Gomez in the 129th District Court of Harris County granted summary judgment for Doyle client Ronald Jerrols in a suit against him by Texas Mutual Insurance Company, his employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier.

Texas Mutual had sued Mr. Jerrols seeking reimbursement for medical and income benefits it was ordered to pay Mr. Jerrols by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation. Mr. Jerrols and several of his co-workers were severely injured on the job when their company van collided with an 18-wheeler nearly two years ago. Since that time, Mr. Jerrols and the other accident victims have been fighting for the benefits they were rightfully owed under their employer’s insurance policy – benefits that even the employer’s representative wants paid.

Texas Mutual, however, maintains that the men were not in the course and scope of their employment at the time of the accident and therefore were not entitled to their employer’s workers’ compensation coverage.

The favorable ruling for Mr. Jerrols in today’s summary judgment hearings disposes of Texas Mutual’s argument and shows that Texas Mutual did not even have enough facts to support its denial of Mr. Jerrols’s claim to warrant taking the matter before a jury.

Doyle is pursuing a separate action against Texas Mutual on Mr. Jerrols’s behalf for insurance bad faith for this wrongful denial and delay of his workers’ compensation coverage.Rich Text Area