American Nat. Ins. Co. v. Nussbaum

230 S.W. 1102, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 333
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 20, 1921
DocketNo. 8041.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 230 S.W. 1102 (American Nat. Ins. Co. v. Nussbaum) 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 Nat. Ins. Co. v. Nussbaum, 230 S.W. 1102, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 333 (Tex. Ct. App. 1921).

Opinions

LANE, J.

This suit was brought by ap-pellee, Joseph Nussbaum, against appellant, American National Insurance Company, hereinafter called the Insurance Company, for personal injuries alleged to have been suffered by appellee by reason of the negligence of a servant of appellant in the operation of an elevator used in a building owned by appellant.

The plaintiff alleged, in effect, that, having ascended to the eighth floor of said building, he, together with another., entered the elevator on said floor for the purpose of descending; that when the elevator had descended to the fifth floor the servant of defendant, who was operating the same, stopped it, and opened a stationary door guarding the entrance to the cage thereof, so that the passengers might pass from the elevator to the floor of the building, and that, just as he had advanced his right foot from the elevator to the floor of the building, the operator of the elevator suddenly, and without warning,, negligently closed said stationary door upon his right foot or leg, thus catching and pinning it to the stationary door, while the remainder of his body was in the cage of the elevator, and that, while he was so held, the elevator operator caused the elevator to descend; that plaintiff, in an endeavor to extricate his foot, caught the iron grating of the door with his right hand, and as the bottom of the elevator cage descended below the fifth floor, he was caught by the top of the elevator, and badly crushed and mangled, his right leg being so badly crushed' that it was necessary to immediately amputate it above the knee, and his right hand and wrist were badly crushed, maimed, and mangled, so that they were then and will remain wholly useless. He then alleged as follows:

“Plaintiff further avers that, by reason of being so maimed and mangled, he has been injured for life; that he has continuously, since receiving said injuries, suffered, and will for the rest of his life suffer, great pain and anguish, both in mind and body; that he has been compelled to spend large sums of money for medical and surgical attention, nurses, attendants, medicines, and artificial limbs, and will have to spend large sums in the future therefor. In this connection, plaintiff avers that, at the time of receiving said injuries, he was a particularly strong, able, and active man for his years, he being 70 years -of age, and was engaged in many and various business enterprises, which required not only mental, but physical, health and activity; that he was then receiving and earning an annual income of approximately $25,000, and would have continued to earn such amount; that, as a result of said injuries, plaintiff has since been so greatly impaired in health and strength as to be unable to do any mental or physical work, and will, in the future, be almost totally impaired in his ability to work and earn money. Plaintiff further avers that" all of said damages have directly and proximately resulted from the injuries he sustained, as aforesaid, and that he has been damaged directly thereby in the Ml and just sum of $50,-000.
Wherefore, plaintiff prays that, upon a final-hearing hereof, he have judgment against defendant for the sum of $50,000, together with all costs in this behalf expended.”

The defendant Insurance Company answered (1) by general denial; (2) by averment that the injuries of the plaintiff, if any, were the result of an unavoidable accident,, and for which it was not liable; and (3), by plea of contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff. The cause was tried before a jury on special issues, in answer to which they found:

First, that the operator of the elevator closed the door on plaintiff’s leg and foot, as alleged by plaintiff, and that plaintiff was caught and held between the door and door facing, and that while so held the operator caused the elevator to descend; that such act on the part of the operator of the elevator was negligent, and was the proximate cause of the injury to plaintiff, as alleged by him.

Second, that plaintiff attempted to leave the elevator at the fifth floor, and in so doing he used ordinary care for his own safety.

Third, that the plaintiff did not grasp the door of the elevator after the door was closed and locked at the fifth floor and after the elevator was beginning to descend.

Fourth, that the plaintiff suffered damages in the sum of $30,000.

The findings of the jury were by the court approved, and judgment was thereupon rendered for plaintiff for the sum of $30,000. The Insurance Company has appealed.

The effect of the contentions made by the first, second, and third assignments are: First, that the finding of the jury that the plaintiff suffered damages in the sum of $30,-000 is excessive, because there was no evidence to support a verdict for so large a sum; and second, that the finding of the jury that the plaintiff suffered damages in such large sum shows that the same was the result of passion and prejudice.

[1] Neither of these contentions can be sustained. It is shown that on the 15th day of July, 1919, appellee, Joseph Nussbaum, then 70 years of age, with a life expectancy of about 8% years, entered the elevator operated by appellant in its building at the eighth floor, for the purpose of descending to the ground floor; that, when the elevator reached the fifth floor, the operator of the elevator stopped it, and opened the stationary door on’ the fifth floor, placed for the purpose of taking on and letting off passengers at that floor; [1105]*1105that appellee, thinking that he had reached the ground floor, advanced his right foot to the fifth floor, and, as he did so, and before he could leave the elevator, the elevator operator closed the door on his leg and started the elevator downward; that'appellee, being thus held by the stationary door, caught the door with his right hand, to try to release his foot and leg, and, while in this condition, the top of the door of the descending elevator crushed his right leg so badly that it became necessai y to and it was amputated some three inches above the knee joint; his right hand was so badly injured that he has almost, if not entirely, lost the use of it, such injury being permanent; that, by reason of his injuries, he was in the hospital for seven weeks, during which time, and ever since, he has suffered much pain; that whenever the weather changes he suffers greatly from said injuries; he must keep his injured hand held upward to prevent it from paining him; since his injuries he has been unable to dress or bathe himself, and has had to employ a man constantly to assist him in these matters, and in putting on his artificial leg, which he had purchased; that, prior to his injuries he was in good health, and able to bathe and dress himself without assistance, and was able to, and did, attend to his business affairs, which were of large proportions; that up to the time of the trial of this cause he had, by reason of such injuries, necessarily incurred expenses amounting to $2,521.

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Bluebook (online)
230 S.W. 1102, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-nat-ins-co-v-nussbaum-texapp-1921.