Texas Transportation Code 112.152 – Liability Generally for Injury to or Death of Employee
(a) A corporation, receiver, or other person operating a railroad in this state is liable for damages to a person who, while employed by the railroad operator, is injured as a result of:
(1) the negligence of an officer, agent, or employee of the railroad operator; or
(2) any defect or insufficiency due to the railroad operator’s negligence in its cars, engines, appliances, machinery, track, roadbed, works, boats, wharves, or other equipment.
(b) If an employee dies as a result of the negligence, defect, or insufficiency described by Subsection (a), the railroad operator is liable to the employee’s personal representative for the benefit of the employee’s surviving spouse and children and the employee’s parents or, if the employee is not survived by a spouse, child, or parent, to the employee’s next of kin who is dependent on the employee.
Terms Used In Texas Transportation Code 112.152
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) Damages recovered under Subsection (b) are not liable for the debts of the deceased and shall be divided among the persons entitled to the benefit of the action who are living, in shares the fact finder considers proper.
(d) An action under Subsection (b) may be brought without administration by all parties entitled to damages under that subsection, or by any one or more of those parties, for the benefit of all of those parties. If all parties entitled to recover are not before the court, the action may proceed for the benefit of the parties who are before the court.