Clyde F. Helton, Jr., an employee of Belcol Wood, Inc., sustained severe injuries during his work when he fell through a skylight. After settling a previous workers' compensation lawsuit against Belcol Wood, Helton sued Brent Belcher Properties, Ltd., and Brent Belcher alleging that they owned the property where the accident occurred and had failed to keep it safe.
The defendants filed for a summary judgment stating that they didn’t own, manage, lease, or maintain the property and that Helton's acceptance of workers' compensation benefits prevented him from seeking any other remedy. The court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. However, the Court of Civil Appeals partly reversed this decision, ruling that while the negligence claim was unfounded, the breach-of-contract claim was not properly addressed by the defendants.