in the Estate of Rosa Elvia Guerrero
2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 4124
| Tex. App. | 2015Background
- Champion sold a used Chevrolet to Rosa Guerrero in August 2007 and attached multiple sales documents: Buyer’s Order, Retail Installment Contract, Security Agreement, and a separate Arbitration Agreement; some sales documents contained merger clauses and only the Buyer’s Order referenced arbitration.
- Allegations: Champion installed used tires and later serviced the vehicle; in 2009 a tire failure allegedly caused a crash that killed Guerrero and her son and injured others.
- Multiple parties sued (estate administrators, passengers, parents, intervenors, tire manufacturers); Champion moved to compel arbitration of claims derivative of Guerrero’s rights and certain survival claims.
- At the summary-like hearing stage the trial court denied Champion’s motion to compel arbitration without stating grounds; Champion appealed interlocutorily under the FAA.
- On appeal the en banc majority affirmed, holding Champion failed to meet its initial burden to prove the existence/authentication of an arbitration agreement by admissible evidence; the court treated complete absence of authentication as a substantive defect that may be raised for the first time on appeal.
- Two dissenting opinions argued the authentication objection was waived for failure to obtain a trial-court ruling (per preservation rules and Mansions), and one dissent stressed deposition testimony and other record evidence supported authenticity.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existence/authentication of arbitration agreement | Guerrero: Champion failed to authenticate the arbitration and sales documents; unauthenticated attachments are inadmissible and raise factual dispute | Champion: Attached true-and-correct copies to its motion; absence of sworn denial under Tex. R. Civ. P. 93(7) means documents are properly before the court | Held: Champion failed to authenticate; absence of any affidavit or other authentication is a substantive defect and trial court did not abuse discretion in denying motion |
| Whether nonsignatories (beneficiaries/intervenors) are bound | Guerrero/others: Arbitration documents do not mention heirs; wrongful-death beneficiaries are not automatically bound | Champion: Wrongful-death and survival claims are derivative of Guerrero and therefore arbitrable; alternatively, doctrines like direct-benefits estoppel or factual intertwining compel arbitration | Held: Not reached—court resolved appeal on failure to establish a valid arbitration agreement, so subsidiary scope/binding issues were left undecided |
| Waiver of arbitration right | Plaintiffs: Champion substantially invoked the judicial process and sought jurisdictional dismissal, so it waived arbitration | Champion: No waiver; preserving and seeking arbitration is consistent with defense strategy | Held: Not addressed—court declined to reach waiver because Champion failed to establish the arbitration agreement exists |
| Judicial admission by plaintiff’s counsel that Guerrero signed documents | Plaintiffs: Counsel’s statements were equivocal and not clear judicial admissions | Champion: Counsel’s statements amounted to a judicial admission that Guerrero signed the arbitration agreement | Held: Court found counsel’s statements not sufficiently deliberate, clear, and unequivocal to constitute a judicial admission |
Key Cases Cited
- Freis v. Canales, 877 S.W.2d 283 (Tex. 1994) (no arbitration absent an agreement)
- J.M. Davidson, Inc. v. Webster, 128 S.W.3d 223 (Tex. 2003) (movant bears initial burden to prove existence and scope of arbitration agreement)
- In re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 166 S.W.3d 732 (Tex. 2005) (FAA incorporation; court determines gateway issues like existence of agreement)
- Mansions in the Forest, L.P. v. Montgomery Cnty., 365 S.W.3d 314 (Tex. 2012) (preservation-of-error framework for defects in summary-evidence authentication)
- Perkins v. Crittenden, 462 S.W.2d 565 (Tex. 1970) (historical exception allowing complaint on unverified promissory note raised for first time on appeal)
- Jack B. Anglin Co. v. Tipps, 842 S.W.2d 266 (Tex. 1992) (summary proceeding standards for determining existence of contract in arbitration context)
- In re Labatt Food Service, L.P., 279 S.W.3d 640 (Tex. 2009) (courts, not arbitrators, decide who is bound when agreement is silent)