City of Houston, Texas v. Chelsea Manning, Individually and as Next Friend of T.N., Aaliyah Mitchell, and Cierra Williams, 714 S.W.3d 592

The case arises from a collision between a City of Houston fire truck and Chelsea Manning’s vehicle at an intersection while the fire truck was responding to an emergency call.
Manning stopped at a red light, proceeded on green, and her car was struck by the fire truck, which was speeding and had emergency signals activated.
Manning and her passengers sued the City under the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA), asserting negligence and negligence per se based on alleged violations of traffic statutes by the fire truck operator.
The City moved for summary judgment on governmental immunity grounds twice; both motions were denied by the trial court and affirmed by the court of appeals.
Key legal dispute: whether "negligence per se" claims are covered by the TTCA's waiver of governmental immunity.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Does TTCA waiver cover negligence per se claims?	Violations of statutes define breach of duty under negligence per se; thus, covered by statutory waiver.	Statute waives immunity only for negligence, not negligence per se, so claims should be dismissed.	Waiver covers negligence per se, as it is a form of negligence.
Official immunity, emergency/9-1-1 exception applicability	Disputed; genuine fact issues on whether officer acted in good faith and with reckless disregard.	Sought summary judgment, arguing immunity based on emergency operation and official immunity.	Lower courts must reconsider in light of recent Supreme Court precedents.

Perry v. S.N., 973 S.W.2d 301 (Tex. 1998) (statutory standards of care used in negligence per se refine common law duty definitions)
Reeder v. Daniel, 61 S.W.3d 359 (Tex. 2001) (negligence per se allows use of penal statutes for standard of care)
VIA Metropolitan Transit v. Meck, 620 S.W.3d 356 (Tex. 2020) (TTCA’s “negligence” encompasses all grades of negligence)
City of Galveston v. State, 217 S.W.3d 466 (Tex. 2007) (statutes waiving immunity must be narrowly construed)