December 4, 2025
A Houston appellate court affirmed a take-nothing summary judgment in favor of Zachry Industrial, Inc. in a case involving a bus accident. In 2018, the two plaintiffs were on a bus transporting workers from a large construction site to a contractor parking area when the bus rolled onto its side. The two plaintiffs sued for their injuries. Three lawsuits were filed by the plaintiffs against multiple defendants, including Zachry, before being dismissed. The plaintiffs then filed a fourth lawsuit in Brazoria County but failed to name Zachry as a defendant. Nearly two years after the statute of limitations expired, the plaintiffs amended their lawsuit and named Zachry as a defendant. Zachry asserted the statute of limitations as a defense, and the trial court granted Zachry’s motion for summary judgment in 2022.
The plaintiffs appealed arguing that the statute of limitations did not bar their claims based on the doctrine of “misidentification.” The court of appeals rejected this argument and held that the plaintiffs could not have mis-identified Zachry as a defendant for two reasons. First, the plaintiffs knew of Zachry’s existence prior to the statute of limitations expiring because they had sued Zachry in three prior, but ultimately dismissed lawsuits. Further, in discovery responses in one of the prior cases, Zachry acknowledged that it employed the bus driver. The court of appeals concluded that the plaintiffs did not misidentify Zachry as a party, they simply omitted it as a party until after the statute of limitations expired. As a result, the plaintiffs claims against Zachry were untimely and statutorily barred.
At the trial court and on appeal, Zachry was represented by David Prichard and David Montpas as well as by Randy Moore of the Moore Law Firm in Lake Jackson. The plaintiffs were represented by Jason Itkin, Cory Itkin, Michael Darling, Logan Wexler, and Andrew R. Gould of Arnold & Itkin in Houston.
Reinol Gonzalez et al v. Zachry Industrial, Inc., No. 01-23-00230-CV, in the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas, Houston.