Waffle House, Inc., Petitioner v. Cathie Williams, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court held, on an issue of first impression, that where the gravamen of an employee's case is sexual harassment covered by the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA), the Act's tailored remedial scheme is exclusive and preempts a common-law negligent supervision and retention claim predicated on the same conduct, because permitting dual statutory and common-law tracks would evade the statute's distinctive procedures, elements, defenses, and damage caps. The Court also held the trial court acted within its discretion in excluding a coworker's testimony about the plaintiff's sexual proclivities and in denying a new-trial motion based on similar newly discovered evidence. It reversed the court of appeals' judgment and remanded for consideration of unresolved challenges to the plaintiff's statutory TCHRA claim. Justice O'Neill, joined by Justice Medina, dissented, contending the TCHRA does not preempt an assault-based negligence claim supported by facts independent of the harassment and would have remanded for a damages sufficiency review excluding TCHRA-prohibited conduct.