Scott Talentino

EDUC 714

Professor Roth

Case Brief
Case Name: Texas A & M vs Paul A. Bishop

Court: Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District, Houston

Year Decided: 1999

Facts: The Drama Club of Texas A & M University at Galveston hired a local actor Michael
Wonio and his wife to direct the play Dracula for the university. They decided that the use of a
real knife was required, using a stab pad on the actor. On one night, Paul Bishop, one of the
individuals in the show, was stabbed by Dennis Rittenhouse who swung and missed the stab
pad. Bishop was unaware at the time that he had been stabbed, but soon realized he was
feeling weak and asked the individual playing Mina the maiden to call the ambulance. Bishop
quickly ended the final scene by giving a soliloquy and exiting off stage while the paramedics
arrived. Bishop was taken to the emergency room and determined he had a collapsed lung,
coupled with the subsequent issues of weakness, insomnia, and nightmares.

Procedural history: Bishop filed a negligence lawsuit against Texas A & M, Drama Club faculty
advisors, Dr.s Stephen Curley and Melanie Leskio, and the Wonios. The Wonios settled with
Bishop before the trial. When the case reached the jury it was centered around claims of
negligence around the Wonios and the Drama Club and their liability as employees of the
university.

Issues presented:

Issue 1: Are the Wonios liable as employees of the university under university policy and under
Texas state law?

Issue 2: Did Texas A & M have control over the play Dracula and engage in negligence?

Answer:
Issue 1: No, they are not employees but independent contractors.

Issue 2: No, Texas A & M was not negligent and cannot be held liable for what happened in the
play Dracula.
Reasoning
Issue 1: The Wonios are not liable as employees under Texas state law, first due to the fact that
in Texas government entities are immune from tort liability unless the Texas Legislature has
waived such immunity. Second, Texas A & M maintained that an employee must be in the paid
service of a governmental unit and must not be an independent contractor.

Issue 2: Since the Wonios were paid by the job, not time, over periods of four to five weeks at a
time, and paid $300 dollars with a university check, they could be considered independent
contractors. Even though the Dean of Student Life Affairs testified that faculty advisors had the
right to make the Wonios comply with university rules, and Michael Wonio himself testified that
he considered Texas A & M to be the producer of the play, there was no explicit contract giving
Texas A & M the right to control the play. The other faculty involved, Drs. Curley and Lesko,
were found to be volunteers as they were not paid for the play, and under the Texas Tort Claims
Act, volunteers and independent contractors cannot be considered employees, thus giving
insufficient evidence that the university was liable.