IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS
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No. 06-0353
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City of Pasadena,
Petitioner,
v.
Kinsel Industries, Inc.,
Respondent
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On Petition for Review from the
Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of
Texas
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PER CURIAM
Respondent
Kinsel Industries, Inc. contracted with petitioner City of Pasadena to build a wastewater treatment plant.
Kinsel’s subcontractor, Environmental Infrastructure
Group, L.P., sued Kinsel and others over disputes
relating to the project, and Kinsel asserted
third-party claims against the City. The trial court denied the City’s plea to
jurisdiction, and the court of appeals affirmed, holding that the City’s
immunity from suit was waived by section 51.075 of the Texas Local Government
Code and by a charter provision empowering the City to “sue and be sued.” PasAdena, Tex., City Charter art. I, §
2; ___ S.W.3d ___, ___ (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 2006) (mem. op.).
Since
the court of appeals issued its opinion, we have rejected both its holdings.
Tooke v. City of Mexia, 197 S.W.3d 325, 342-44 (Tex. 2006). But we
also held in Tooke that absent some other
waiver of immunity, sections 271.151-.160 of the Texas Local Government Code,
enacted while the appeal in that case was pending (as was the appeal in the
present case), are a limited, retroactive waiver of immunity from suit on
certain contractual claims. Id. at
344-45. The City argues that Kinsel’s claims
lie outside the scope of this waiver, but Kinsel
disagrees. We believe these arguments should be addressed to the trial court in
the first instance. City of Houston v. Jones, 197
S.W.3d 391, 392 (Tex. 2006) (per curiam).
Accordingly,
we grant the City’s petition for review, and without hearing oral argument,
Tex. R. App. P. 59.1, reverse the
judgment of the court of appeals and remand the case to the trial court for
further proceedings.
Opinion
delivered: June 1, 2007