Oscar Renda Contracting, Inc. v. Theodis Bruce, Maria Bruce, Virginia Cordova, Sergio Cordova, Victor Corral, Jose Dominguez, Magdalena Juarez, Bernarda Lopez, Elisa Negrete, Maria Reyes, Luis Velazquez, Jose Valdez, Antonio Salgado, Maria Salgado, and Iris Jordan, 689 S.W.3d 305

Homeowners in El Paso’s San Marcial neighborhood sued Oscar Renda Contracting, Inc. after suffering property damage allegedly caused by the company’s faulty construction techniques during a city stormwater project.
The homeowners sought both actual and exemplary (punitive) damages, claiming Oscar Renda acted with gross negligence.
The jury found Renda negligent and grossly negligent, and awarded exemplary damages, but the verdict was not unanimous: only ten out of twelve jurors agreed.
The trial court rendered judgment excluding exemplary damages, citing lack of unanimity as required by Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 41.003.
The court of appeals reversed, suggesting unanimity might be implied and that the defendant failed to properly object or clarify the issue.
The Texas Supreme Court granted review to resolve whether unanimity could be implied or the burden shifted to defendants.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Burden of Ensuring Unanimity	Defendant (Renda) had to object and clarify the lack of unanimity; plaintiff’s burden only on evidence.	Plaintiff (homeowners) must prove the verdict is unanimous as statute requires.	Plaintiff must secure a unanimous exemplary damages verdict.
Effect of Non-Unanimous Verdict	A divided verdict could reflect disagreement on non-exemplary claims; unanimity can be implied.	Lack of unanimity in the verdict form and jury poll precludes exemplary damages.	A non-unanimous verdict cannot support exemplary damages.
Waiver Due to Lack of Objection	Defendant waived objection by not following precise procedural rules (e.g., Rule 301, 295).	Defendant’s objection to the proposed judgment was sufficient.	No waiver; substance over form; objection preserved the issue.
Deemed Findings in Absence of Objection	Failure to object to the missing unanimity instruction means the charge controls and a 10-2 verdict suffices.	Deemed findings can’t override plain evidence of non-unanimity.	Deemed findings not allowed when verdict is affirmatively divided.

Zorrilla v. Aypco Construction II, LLC, 469 S.W.3d 143 (Tex. 2015) (plaintiff bears burden for statutory standards; procedural burdens may not be shifted to defendant)
Youngkin v. Hines, 546 S.W.3d 675 (Tex. 2018) (appellate courts review standards of recovery and verdict effects de novo)
Gulf States Utils. Co. v. Low, 79 S.W.3d 561 (Tex. 2002) (deemed findings not appropriate when the record affirmatively shows the opposite of the element to be deemed)