American Interstate Insurance Co. v. Hinson

172 S.W.3d 108, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 6350, 2005 WL 1903757
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 11, 2005
Docket09-04-369 CV
StatusPublished
Cited by67 cases

This text of 172 S.W.3d 108 (American Interstate Insurance Co. v. Hinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Interstate Insurance Co. v. Hinson, 172 S.W.3d 108, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 6350, 2005 WL 1903757 (Tex. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

OPINION

HOLLIS HORTON, Justice.

Is the evidence in this workers’ compensation case sufficient to support the jury’s finding that William E. Hinson was not intoxicated at the time of his injury? We review all of the evidence admitted at the trial to evaluate if the jury’s verdict should be affirmed.1

HINSON’S EVIDENCE REGARDING INTOXICATION

While employed by Constructors and Erectors (C & E) and working with fellow employees as a steel connector on a raising gang at the Abitibi paper mill in Lufkin, Texas, Hinson fell from a steel structure. Hinson had approximately four or five years of experience in his trade prior to his injury. Hinson worked for C & E for [111]*111only four days prior to his injury. Hin-son’s work on the morning of the accident began around 7:30 a.m., and he fell at approximately 11:45 a.m. Prior to the accident, Hinson had no problems doing his work, and had worked atop the structure being constructed all morning without coming down for a break.

Just prior to the fall, Hinson and a coworker detached a steel clip that weighed 75 to 80 pounds from the end of a steel cross-piece while sitting on horizontal beams above ground level. Unfortunately, Hinson neglected to re-attach his safety lanyard after moving to the point where he sat on the beam. Hinson attempted to excuse his failure to tie his safety lanyard to a safe structure to an alleged exception to the general tie off rules while working under overhead loads, and to helping his co-worker remove the clip.

When Hinson and his co-worker removed the heavy clip from the steel crosspiece attached to a crane, the end of the cross-piece where Hinson sat swung up and struck him in the face. Hinson was unaware that bolts he had previously secured attaching the opposite end of the cross-piece had been removed by a coworker. When Hinson removed the clip, the end where he was working swung up and struck him. Hinson fell to the ground, and next recalled waking up in the hospital a few days later.

Hinson testified that prior to his injury that morning he felt normal, and he had no trouble aligning the beams in the structure. Prior to the fall, Hinson’s work required him to rely on his balance and walk across beams approximately thirty to thirty-five feet above the ground.

Hinson also testified at trial regarding his use of marijuana. He began using marijuana for recreational purposes at age fifteen, and then began to use marijuana regularly about a year later. Hinson stated that regular use meant that he used marijuana two to three times per week, and as much as daily. Hinson testified that when he began working as a steel connector, he continued to use marijuana regularly but did not normally use marijuana on weekdays. Hinson testified that he never used marijuana while on a job, or before he went to a job. Hinson testified that when he did smoke marijuana after work, he smoked, on average, three to five joints. Hinson denied that smoking three to five joints made him drunk. Hinson testified that he felt the effects of the marijuana five to ten minutes after smoking a joint, and that the effect of the marijuana lasted 25 to 30 minutes.

According to Hinson, on the morning after using marijuana he felt no different than on a morning where he had not smoked marijuana. Hinson testified that the marijuana relaxed him mentally, but he denied that marijuana ever affected him physically. Hinson testified that he used marijuana on a regular basis for four years prior to his accident.

Hinson addressed the effect of his marijuana use at the time of the accident. He denied smoking any marijuana during the two days prior to the incident. On the morning of the incident, a Wednesday, Hinson testified that he felt alert and denied that he suffered from any physical or mental impairment. Hinson testified that no one complained that he was not working at a normal speed, and no one on the morning of the incident criticized his work performance. Nevertheless, Hinson admitted there was marijuana in his system a the time of the injury. Hinson admitted that he smoked marijuana on the week-end before his accident, but could not recall how many joints he smoked the week prior to his accident. Hinson admitted that the urine sample taken after the accident tested positive for marijuana. Hinson pre[112]*112sented no expert witness testimony regarding whether his marijuana use would have caused mental or physical impairment. Hinson was the sole witness called to testify on his behalf.

AMERICAN INTERSTATE’S EVIDENCE REGARDING INTOXICATION

American Interstate called three witnesses to testify before the jury. Its first witness, Elmo Hall, Jr., testified that he was C & E’s foreman on the job at the time of the accident. Hall estimated that Hinson was working twenty-five to thirty feet above the ground prior to the fall.

Hall explained that at the time of the accident, Hinson and another C & E employee were attempting to place a T-brace into position while it was held in place by a crane. Hall agreed that the workers needed to swap out a clip on a piece of steel to correct a problem encountered in fitting the steel together.

Hall testified that under the conditions on the day of the incident there were no excuses for Hinson’s not tying off the safety lanyard. Hall disputed Hinson’s testimony that there was other steel suspended above Hinson in the structure prior to the accident. Hall testified that immediately prior to the fall, he observed Hinson walk across a beam without being tied off. Because Hall was concerned that if he yelled he might distract Hinson, Hall began to walk toward the structure to correct Hin-son’s failure to follow the safety rules requiring workers at elevations to be tied off safely. Just as Hall reached the structure, Hinson fell to the ground.

Hall testified that Hinson’s failure to tie off violated the company’s safety policy, and the violation was not normal behavior. Hall gave no testimony that Hinson appeared intoxicated at any time prior to the accident, and described no other incidents involving Hinson that might have evidenced any impairment in Hinson’s normal use of his mental or physical faculties. On cross-examination, Hall admitted that Hin-son had been tied off all day prior to this incident, and was doing his job.

Robert Marsh, a safety director, was American Interstate’s second witness. Marsh investigated Hinson’s accident and concluded that the cause of the accident was Hinson’s failure to use his safety lanyard. Marsh testified that Hinson’s failure to tie off under the circumstances violated company policy. Marsh also testified that his investigation was inconclusive about whether the cross-piece hit Hinson prior to his fall.

In addition, Marsh identified the post-accident urinalysis, and testified that employees were required to consent to post-accident testing as a condition of employment. At some time after the accident, Marsh testified that he was advised the urinalysis showed 264 nanograms per milliliter of marijuana metabolite in Hinson’s urine. Marsh did not testify regarding when the urinalysis sample was taken, or provide any opinions about whether the urinalysis showed impairment at the time of the accident.

The third witness called by American Interstate was Dr. Thomas Kurt. Dr. Kurt, a physician specializing in medical toxicology, has been licensed to practice medicine in Texas since 1978. Dr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
172 S.W.3d 108, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 6350, 2005 WL 1903757, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-interstate-insurance-co-v-hinson-texapp-2005.