Keep On Trucking
November 12, 2012Carment Llerena, a former bookkeeper and secretary for Defendant North Texas Trucking, sued her former employer for negligence and fraud related to her termination. The jury found North Texas liable and rendered judgment in Llerena’s favor, and the trial court overruled North Texas’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. On appeal, however, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision and found that Llerena should instead take nothing from North Texas on both claims.
The Court’s opinion turned on two issues. First, the Court rejected Llerena’s fraud claim. While Llerena argued that she was fraudulently induced to accept a job with defendant based on North Texas’ representation that it had workers’ compensation insurance, the Court found that she had presented no evidence of “what she would have received had North Texas provided workers’ compensation insurance.” Second, the Court rejected Llerena’s contention that her former employer caused her to work in unsafe conditions that led to her carpal tunnel syndrome, finding instead that she presented “no evidence that any modification of her work environment or work requirements would have prevented or lessened her injury.”
