Hand & Wrist Center of Houston, P.A. v. Lowery Masonry, LLC

Summary

The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals reviewed a traditional summary judgment in a breach-of-guaranty action involving medical expenses for an injured employee. The court held that the employer’s interpretation of an exception concerning workers’ compensation insurance would render the phrase “additional payment” meaningless and therefore was not conclusively established as the only reasonable interpretation. The court reversed the summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. No. Lowery did not conclusively establish an unambiguous, certain, or definite legal meaning of the guaranty in its favor, and therefore was not entitled to traditional summary judgment.
2. Yes. When a defendant contends that contract terms preclude the plaintiff's recovery, the defendant must prove that its interpretation is the only reasonable interpretation.
3. No. The summary judgment must be reversed because Lowery failed to conclusively prove that the guaranty's exception eliminated its payment obligation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Lowery conclusively established that the workers' compensation insurance exception in the Letter of Guarantee barred Hand & Wrist Center from recovering any payment from Lowery.
2. Whether the guaranty provision stating that the medical providers would not seek 'additional payment' when Lowery had Texas Mutual workers' compensation insurance was unambiguous and required judgment for Lowery as a matter of law.
3. Whether the trial court properly granted traditional summary judgment on Hand & Wrist Center's breach-of-guaranty claim.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded