Court tosses former police cadet's claims for heat-related injuries
A Texas appellate court on Thursday tossed a former police cadet’s tort claims against the individual officers he blamed for his heat-stress-related injuries during a training exercise.
Christopher Wise was a cadet in the Austin Police Academy who in 2018 allegedly engaged in “a very strenuous series of physical exercises in an activity called ‘stress reaction training’” on the afternoon on a day when the heat index hit 100 degrees, according to Manley v. Wise, filed in the Texas Court of Appeals, 3rd District, in Austin.
The cadets were required to perform the training exercises in heavy clothing while wearing a service belt. The instructors also allegedly discouraged the cadets from drinking water except at designated intervals. Mr. Wise was one of nine cadets who required medical attention during the training and one of five who were transported to hospitals.
He filed suit against the city of Austin, the police department and various individual officers.
The defendants argued that dismissal of Mr. Wise’s claims against the individual defendants was required under the election-of-remedies provisions in the Texas Tort Claims Act.
The appeals court agreed, saying the law “forces a plaintiff to decide at the outset whether an employee acted independently and is thus solely liable, or acted within the general scope of his or her employment such that the governmental unit is vicariously liable” for the tortious conduct.
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