Shaw v. United Airlines Inc et al

Filing 38

ORDER DENYING 27 MOTION for Partial Summary Judgment as to Causation (Signed by Judge Gray H Miller) Parties notified.(rkonieczny, 4)

United States District Court
Southern District of Texas

ENTERED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
JUDY ANN SHAW,
Plaintiff,
v.
UNITED AIRLINES, INC. and
AIR SERV CORPORATION,
Defendants.

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August 30, 2018
David J. Bradley, Clerk

CIVIL ACTION H-17-267

ORDER
Pending before the court is a motion for partial summary judgment as to causation filed by
defendants United Airlines, Inc. and Air Serv Corporation (“Defendants”). Dkt. 27. Having
considered the motion, response, applicable law, and the evidence, the court is of the opinion that
the motion should be DENIED.
A court shall grant summary judgment when a “movant shows that there is no genuine
dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R.
Civ. P. 56(a). “[A] fact is genuinely in dispute only if a reasonable jury could return a verdict for
the nonmoving party.” Fordoche, Inc. v. Texaco, Inc., 436 F.3d 388, 392 (5th Cir. 2006). The
moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material
fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S. Ct. 2548 (1986). If the party meets its
burden, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to set forth specific facts showing a genuine issue
for trial. Fed. R. Civ. 56(c). The court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the
non-movant and draw all justifiable inferences in favor of the non-movant. Envtl. Conservation Org.
v. City of Dall., 529 F.3d 519, 524 (5th Circ. 2008).

Defendants are not entitled to partial summary judgment as to causation because they failed
to show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. A fact issue exists on whether Shaw has
provided sufficient evidence of causation. Compare Dkt. 27 at 4–5, with Dkt. 30 at 6–8. As a result,
Defendants’ motion (Dkt. 27) is DENIED.

Signed at Houston, Texas on August 30, 2018.

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Gray H. Miller
United States District Judge

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