89R23705 SCL-F     By: Leach, Lopez of Cameron, et al. H.B. No. 4688     Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4688:     By:  Leach C.S.H.B. No. 4688       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to civil liability of a commercial motor vehicle owner or   operator.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Sections 72.054(a), (b), and (f), Civil Practice   and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:          (a)  In [Except as provided by Subsection (d), in] a civil   action under this subchapter, an employer defendant's liability for   damages caused by the ordinary negligence of a person operating the   defendant's commercial motor vehicle shall be based only on   respondeat superior if the defendant stipulates, within the time   provided by Section 72.052 for filing a motion to bifurcate, that,   at the time of the collision, the person operating the vehicle was:                (1)  the defendant's employee; and                (2)  acting within the scope of employment.          (b)  If [Except as provided by Subsection (c), if] an   employer defendant stipulates in accordance with Subsection (a) and   the trial is bifurcated under Section 72.052, a claimant may not, in   the first phase of the trial, present evidence on an ordinary   negligence claim against the employer defendant, such as negligent   entrustment, that requires a finding by the trier of fact that the   employer defendant's employee was negligent in operating a vehicle   as a prerequisite to the employer defendant being found negligent   in relation to the employee defendant's operation of the vehicle.     This subsection does not prevent a claimant from presenting   evidence allowed by Section 72.053(b).          (f)  Nothing in this section prevents a claimant from   pursuing:                (1)  an ordinary negligence claim against a [an   employer] defendant [for a claim], such as negligent maintenance,   negligent repair, negligent loading, or another similar claim, that   is based on the defendant's independent act of negligence that does   not require a finding of negligence by the [an] employee who was   operating the defendant's commercial motor vehicle as a   prerequisite to the [an employer] defendant being found negligent   for its conduct or omission, or from presenting evidence on that   claim in the first phase of a bifurcated trial; or                (2)  a claim for exemplary damages under Chapter 41 for   an employer defendant's conduct or omissions in relation to the   collision that is the subject of the action, or from presenting   evidence on that claim in the second phase of a bifurcated trial.          SECTION 2.  Sections 72.054(c), (d), and (e), Civil Practice   and Remedies Code, are repealed.          SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies   only to an action:                (1)  commenced on or after the effective date of this   Act; or                (2)  pending on the effective date of this Act and in   which the trial, or any new trial or retrial following motion,   appeal, or otherwise, begins on or after the effective date of this   Act.          (b)  In an action commenced before the effective date of this   Act, a trial, new trial, or retrial that is in progress on the   effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the   trial, new trial, or retrial immediately before the effective date   of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.