Cravens v. Transport Indemnity Co.

738 S.W.2d 364, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8710
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 15, 1987
DocketNo. 2-86-269-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 738 S.W.2d 364 (Cravens v. Transport Indemnity Co.) 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
Cravens v. Transport Indemnity Co., 738 S.W.2d 364, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8710 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

FENDER, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal by Henry Cravens, the plaintiff in the trial court, from an adverse judgment in a worker’s compensation case. Based upon jury answers to several special issues, the trial court rendered a take nothing judgment for the defendant, Transport Indemnity Company. Appellant appeals the verdict, the Denial of a Motion for Mistrial, the Denial of a Motion for New Trial, the Denial of a Motion to Disregard Special Issue Finding and the Denial of a Motion for Finding on Omitted Issue in seven points of error.

We affirm.

On June 3, 1983 appellant, employed by appellee, suffered a back injury on the job. At the time of the injury appellant had worked only 160 days. For recovery in a worker’s compensation case, it is crucial for the worker to establish his pre-injury average weekly wage rate. In accordance with TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 8309, sec. 1, subd. (1), (2), (3) (Vernon 1967) this rate can be established in one of three ways. First, his own wages will be controlling if he has worked at least 210 days in the same or similar employment during the year preceding his injury. TEX.REV.CIV. STAT.ANN. art. 8309, sec. 1, subd.(l) (Vernon 1967). If the injured worker has not himself met the prerequisities of subdivision (1), as in the case at bar, then he must take his proof to subdivision (2) of the statute and establish the average weekly wage rate of another employee of the same class who has worked similarly for at least 210 days in the prior year. Subdivision (3) provides for a wage rate “just and fair” to both parties, but resort may not be had to subdivision (3) until the workman has met his burden of proving by competent evidence that his wages cannot be computed under subdivision (1) or (2). See Texas Employers’ Ins. Ass’n v. Ford, 153 Tex. 470, 271 S.W.2d 397, 399-400 (1954).

Cheri Wilson, a representative of appellant’s employer, testified regarding the earnings of another employee, Jerry Harlow, that had worked at least 210 days. Both appellant and Harlow drove trucks that hauled cars, but Harlow could choose more jobs and higher paying jobs because he ranked higher than appellant in the seniority system. Appellant offered no other evidence to establish the wage rate of another employee.

The following special issues were submitted to the jury with regard to proof of pre-injury average weekly wage rate:

Special Issue No. 6:
Was the injury a producing cause of any “partial incapacity?”
Answer: Yes Special Issue No. 10:
Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that another employee of the same class as plaintiff worked at lease 210 days of the year immediately preceding June 3, 1983, in the same or similar employment and in the same or a neighboring place?
Answer: we do not.
Special Issue No. 11:
Find from a preponderance of the evidence the average daily wage which such other employee earned during the days he actually worked in such year.
Answer: N/A

Appellant asserts in his first and second points of error that the trial court erred in rendering judgment on the verdict and in overruling plaintiff’s motion for mistrial and request for new trial because there is an irreconcilable conflict between the jury’s finding in Special Issue 6 and the court’s deemed finding. In answering Special Issue 6, the jury indicated the injury was a [366]*366producing cause of appellant’s “partial incapacity.” “Partial incapacity” was defined in the charge of the court as any degree of incapacity less than total incapacity, whereby a person suffers a reduction in earning capacity. However, appellant argues that when the court entered a take-nothing judgment, the court made a deemed finding of a pre-injury average weekly wage rate less than or equal to that during the period of partial incapacity.

Appellant relies on five cases to support his contention of an irreconcilable conflict, i.e., Lozano v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 721 S.W.2d 285 (Tex.1986); Employers Reinsurance Corporation v. Holland, 162 Tex. 394, 347 S.W.2d 605 (1961); Winters v. Highlands Underwriters Ins. Co., 693 S.W.2d 729 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Disk] 1985, no writ); Burton v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co., 582 S.W.2d 565 (Tex.Civ.App.—El Paso 1979, writ ref’d n.r. e.); and Home Indem. Co. v. McKay, 543 S.W.2d 171 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1976) (orig. proceeding). None of these are applicable because each of the cited cases involve a stipulated pre-injury average weekly wage, a jury finding of partial incapacity and a jury finding of no reduction of wage earning capacity following the injury or during the period of partial incapacity. The case at bar is distinguishable from those cases cited by appellant. In answer to Special Issue 10, the jury found that there was no employee of the same class as appellant who had worked 210 days before June 3, 1983 in the same or similar employment. As a result, there was no jury findings, nor were there any stipulations, as to appellant’s pre-injury average weekly wage rate. It follows that there could be no jury finding of a reduction of wage earning capacity following appellant’s injury since there had been no pre-injury wage determination to base a reduction on. These facts indicate appellant failed to establish an average weekly wage by showing the wages of another employee of the same class. We do not believe a fatal conflict arises where there is a jury finding of partial incapacity coupled with the failure of establishing the essential pre-injury wage rate as reflected by the jury’s answer to Special Issue 10. It is merely a failure of the appellant to meet his burden of proof under TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 8309, sec. 1(2) (Vernon 1967).

Appellant additionally argues the trial court, in accordance with TEX.R.CIV. PROC. 279 (Vernon 1977), should have made a finding based upon the evidence as to a “just and fair” wage rate. The court correctly declined to do so. Appellant did not tender to the trial court any issue on “just and fair” wage rate, nor did appellant timely object before judgment to the court’s failure to submit such an issue. See TEX.R.CIV.P. 279 (Vernon 1977). Even if appellant had timely objected, appellant failed to prove by competent evidence that his wages could not be computed under TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 8309, sec. 1(2) (Vernon 1967) which is a prerequisite to resorting to the “just and fair” method of wage determination. See Texas Employers’ Ins. Ass’n v. Ford, 153 Tex. 470, 271 S.W.2d 397, 399-400 (1954). Appellant’s points of error one and two are overruled.

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Bluebook (online)
738 S.W.2d 364, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8710, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cravens-v-transport-indemnity-co-texapp-1987.