Zimmerman, MD v. Gonzalez Anaya, (pdf) No. 08-0580 (Tex. May 7, 2010)
(per curiam) (right to interlocutory appeal of medical resident of state-supported medical school; government
employee status)
GEOFFREY ZIMMERMAN, M.D. v. WENDY GONZALEZ ANAYA, INDIVIDUALLY AND A/N/F OF CHRISTOPHER
GABRIEL HERNANDEZ, DECEASED; from Harris County;
1st district (01‑07‑00570‑CV, ___ SW3d ___, 06‑05‑08)
Pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 59.1, after granting the petition for review and without hearing
oral argument, the Court reverses the court of appeals' judgment and remands the case to that court.
Per Curiam Opinion [pdf]
See Electronic Briefs in GEOFFREY ZIMMERMAN, M.D. v. ANAYA
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Zimmerman v. Anaya (Tex. 2010)(per curiam)
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PER CURIAM
By statute, a state employee may appeal an interlocutory order denying a motion for summary
judgment based on an assertion of immunity. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014(5). The issue
here is whether a resident physician, working at a public hospital under an agreement with his private
medical school, may take an interlocutory appeal as though he were a state employee. Following its
recent decision in Klein v. Hernandez, 260 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. App.–Houston [1st Dist.] 2008, pet.
granted), the court of appeals concluded, in a memorandum opinion, that the physician could not and
dismissed the appeal. ___ S.W.3d ___. The court in Klein held that a resident physician at the same
private medical school, Baylor College of Medicine, working at the same public hospital, Ben Taub
Hospital in Houston, was not entitled to an interlocutory appeal under section 51.014(5) of the Civil
Practices and Remedies Code because he was not an “actual” state employee. Klein, 260 S.W.3d at
9-11.
Today, we reverse the court of appeals’s judgment in Klein and hold that, under the Texas Health
and Safety Code, a resident physician at a private medical school is to be treated like a state
employee for purposes of section 51.014(5) when the underlying litigation arises from a residency
program coordinated through a supported medical school, like Baylor, at a public hospital, like Ben
Taub. Klein v. Hernandez, ___ S.W.3d ____(Tex. 2010) (applying Tex. Health & Safety Code §§
312.006 – .007 and Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014(5)). Accordingly, in light of our opinion in
Klein and without hearing oral argument in this case, we grant the petition for review, reverse the court
of appeals’s judgment, and remand to that court to consider the merits of the appeal. See Tex. R.
App. P. 59.1.
OPINION DELIVERED: May 7, 2010.