Denbow v. Standard Acc. Ins. Co.

193 S.W.2d 301, 1946 Tex. App. LEXIS 792
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 7, 1946
DocketNo. 11768.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 193 S.W.2d 301 (Denbow v. Standard Acc. Ins. 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
Denbow v. Standard Acc. Ins. Co., 193 S.W.2d 301, 1946 Tex. App. LEXIS 792 (Tex. Ct. App. 1946).

Opinion

MONTEITH, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal in a workman’s compensation case brought by appellant, H. E. Denbow, to set aside an award of the Industrial Accident Board as compensation for accidental injuries alleged to have been sustained by him in the course of his employment with the Stearns-Roger Manufacturing Company, who carried compensation insurance with appellee, Standard Accident Insurance Company.

In a previous appeal of the case to this court, 183 S.W.2d 680, the judgment of the trial court in favor of appellant was reversed and the cause was remanded by this court. This judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court, 186 S.W.2d 236.

Upon remand to the trial court, appellant sought recovery under Sections 10 and 11, Article 8306, Revised Statutes of 1925, for “general” injuries alleged to have been sustained in the course of his employment; and in the alternative for “special” injuries to his left wrist and hand under Section 12 of said Article 8306.

In the trial court the jury found, in answer to special issues submitted: (1) That Denbow’s total disability from January 8, 1943, to February 20, 1943, was the result of injury to his body, as well as injury to his left wrist; (2) that following the termination of such total disability on February 20, 1943, he also suffered partial disability; (3) but that this partial disability after February 20, 1943, was confined to his left wrist and did not result from any injury to any other portion of his body; (4) and that such wrist disability did not extend to or affect any other portion of his body; (5) that the partial disability to appellant’s left wrist was *302 permanent; and (6) that it amounted to a 25% permanent partial disability to his left hand and wrist.

Based on the answers to such special issues, judgment was rendered in favor of appellant for the recovery of compensation at the rate of $20 per week for seven weeks total disability from January 8, 1943, until February 20, 1943, and for compensation for partial disability for an additional period of 144 weeks from February 20, 1943, at the rate of $12.35 per week, less the sum of $140 for seven weeks total disability previously paid.

By agreement the filing of a statement of facts on appeal was waived and it was stipulated that on January 8, 1943, Denbow had sustained accidental injuries in the course of his employment as a welder with Stearns-Rogers Manufacturing Company ; that his average weekly wage during the year prior to such injuries was $82.34 per week, and that appellant had been paid the sum of $140 as compensation for seven weeks following January 8, 1943, at the rate of $20 per week.

It is appellant’s contention that, under his pleadings and the stipulated facts, he should have been awarded compensation for partial permanent disability for a period of 300 weeks at the rate of $12.35 per week. He contends that, under the statute, the rate must be determined by multiplying the average weekly wage of the employee, here stipulated to be $82.34, by 60%, amounting to $49.40, and by multiplying this sum by 25%, the percentage of specific loss found by the jury, which would produce the sum of $12.35, the amount of weekly compensation awarded appellant by the trial court for a period of 144 weeks of permanent partial disability.

Appellee' contends that under the record in this case appellant was only entitled to recover compensation for 25% partial permanent disability for 144 weeks at the rate of $5 per week; being 25% of the maximum compensation of $20 per week allowed under Section 12 of said Article 8306.

The only issue presented in the appeal is the amount of compensation which should have been allowed appellant by the trial court under the findings of the jury and the stipulations of the parties.

The Workmen’s Compensation Act of the State of Texas, Article 8306, Revised Civil Statutes, provides for compensation for both total incapacity and for specific injury.

Section 10 of said Article 8306 deals with total incapacity and fixes- the measure of compensation to be paid an injured employee at compensation equal to 60% of his average weekly wage, but not more than $20.00 nor less than $7.00, limited to a period of 401 weeks from the date of the injury.

Section 11 of said Article 8306 deals with partial general incapacity and fixes the measure of compensation to be paid an injured employee at 60% of the difference between the average weekly wage before the injury and his average weekly wage-earning capacity during the existence of such partial incapacity, but in no case more than $20.00 per week, limited to a period of 300 weeks from the date of the injury.

Section 12 of said Article 8306 deals with specific injury, including the loss of various members of the body. It provides that:

“For the injuries enumerated in the following schedule the employe shall receive in lieu of all other compensation except medical aid, hospital services and medicines as elsewhere herein provided, a weekly compensation equal to sixty per cent of the average weekly wages of such employes, but not less than $7.00 per week nor exceeding $20.00 per week, for the respective periods stated herein, towit: * * *

“For the loss of a hand, sixty per cent of the average weekly wage during one hundred and fifty weeks. * * *

“In the foregoing enumerated cases of permanent, partial incapacity, it shall be considered that the permanent loss of the use of a member shall be equivalent to and draw the same compensation as the loss of that member. * * *

It is undisputed that appellant sustained an injury to his wrist and left hand in the course of his employment. The jury found, in effect, that he was totally disabled as a result of the injury for a period of six weeks from the date of his injury, and that this disability was the result of injury to his body, as well as the injury to his left wrist; that following the termination of such total disability on February 20, 1943, appellant suffered a partial disability as a result of the injury to his wrist, but that this disability did not result from injury to any other portion of his body, and that it did not extend to or effect any other por *303 tion of his body. Under these findings appellant’s permanent partial incapacity to work after February 20, 1943, was therefore a disability resulting from an injury to a specific member of the body, the compensation rate for which and the period of time during which compensation must be paid are to be determined under Section 12 of said Article 8306, which provides for compensation for the loss of a hand at the rate of 60% of his average weekly wage, not to exceed $20.00, multiplied by the percentage of the incapacity caused by the injury during a period of one hundred and fifty weeks.

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Related

Denbow v. Standard Accident Insurance
199 S.W.2d 651 (Texas Supreme Court, 1946)

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Bluebook (online)
193 S.W.2d 301, 1946 Tex. App. LEXIS 792, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/denbow-v-standard-acc-ins-co-texapp-1946.