Employers Reinsurance Corp. v. Brooks

165 S.W.2d 785
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 6, 1942
DocketNo. 4031
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 165 S.W.2d 785 (Employers Reinsurance Corp. v. Brooks) 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
Employers Reinsurance Corp. v. Brooks, 165 S.W.2d 785 (Tex. Ct. App. 1942).

Opinion

O’QUINN, Justice.

This is a workmen’s compensation case. Frost Lumber Industries, Inc., was the employer, appellee, M. L. Brooks, the employee, and appellant the compensation insurance carrier.

Among other things, appellee alleged that on or about February 11, 1941, he was engaged in the scope of his employment in attending a flooring machine in his employer’s sawmill, and that it was his duty to tie the flooring lumber as it came out of the machine into bundles and place them in piles or stacks; that when he would catch up with that particular work he would do other jobs in and around the mill; that on said date he had caught up with the tieing of the flooring and was then running a piece of plank through an edger machine; that as he was so doing his left hand was caught in the edger machine, as a natural result of which he sustained serious accidental injuries to his hand; that the ligaments, nerves, and muscles of the first, second, third and fourth fingers of his left hand was severely torn, strained, traumatized and injured; that the bones in said fingers were broken and said fingers became stiff, sore and painful, and there is ankylosis of the joints of each of them, as a result of all of which he is nervous and weak when he attempts to use his left hand, and that he suffers excruciating pain when he attempts to use his hand; and that as a direct and natural result of said injuries he has suffered the total and permanent loss of the use of said fingers. He further alleged that at the date of said accident he was receiving $2.40 per day, but that he did not work substantially the whole of the year immediately preceding the date of his injury, but that there was another employee of appellant who did work for substantially the whole of the year immediately preceding the date of his said injury, in the same or similar capacity as appellee was working, in the same or similar employment in the same or neighboring place; that should he be mistaken as to there being another employee of appellant who had worked for substantially the whole of the preceding year, then that his average weekly wages should be assertained in any manner just and fair to both the plaintiff and defendant, which would be the sum of $2.40 per day the same as he was receiving at the time he was injured.

Appellant answered by general denial, and specially that if appellee received the injuries by him plead that he did not receive same while engaged in the services he owed to his master, or in the course of his employment, but that if such, injuries were received by appellee they were received by him while engaged in matters entirely outside of any duty he owed to his employer.

Appellant further answered that in the course of investigation of the accident, and before it could fully determine the matter, it had paid to appellee the sum of $86.40, which covered 12 weeks at $7.20, aggregating the sum of $86.40, when it determined that appellee under the undisputed facts was not entitled to compensation in any sum, and made no further payments, and prayed that appellee be refused any sum as compensation, and that appellant have judgment for costs of suit, but that if appellee be awarded compensation in any further sum, that then it have credit for the said sum of $86.40 it had already paid to appellee.

The case was tried to a jury on one special issue, to-wit:

“Special Issue No. 1.
“Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the injuries to the fingers of the left hand sustained by plaintiff on February 11, 1941, were injuries sustained by him in the course of his employment for Frost Lumber Industries Inc. of Texas.
“Answer Yes or No.”
“To which the jury answered ‘Yes’.”

On the answer of the jury, judgment was rendered for the plaintiff, appellee, and motion for a new trial being overruled, appellant brings this appeal.

There is in the record an agreement by the parties that on February 11, 1941, ap-pellee, M. L. Brooks, was an employee of the Frost Lumber Industries, Inc., of Tex[787]*787as; that at the time he received his alleged injuries, his employer was carrying workmen’s compensation insurance covering all his employees including appellee; that ap-pellee duly gave notice to the Industrial Accident Board of his injuries with claim for compensation therefor; that said board duly made its award on said claim, and that appellee duly gave notice to said Board that he would not abide said award, and would file suit in a court of competent jurisdiction to set aside said award and to recover compensation for his injuries; and that he duly filed this suit for said purpose; that he received his injuries in Nacogdoches County, Texas, and that appellant paid him the sum of $86.40 (being for compensation for 12 weeks at the rate of $7.20 per week) as compensation for his said injuries, stipulating that said payment was for injuries sustained under the Workmen’s Compensation Act only.

As we understand the agreement it admits and covers all the facts as true except the extent of the injuries received by appellee, nor that they were received in the course of his employment. We think the evidence as to the extent of injuries received by appellee was sufficient to support the verdict and consequent judgment. We do not believe that the evidence supports the verdict on the question of ap-pellee having received his injuries while engaged in the performance and in the course of his employment. Appellee testified: That on February 11, 1941, he was working for appellant at its plant in Na-cogdoches County, Texas, and was paid by it regularly for his work; that his job was to tie bundles of flooring behind a flooring machine, six pieces to the bundle and stack same; that some times the machine would stop and he would just sit around until it started up again; that on the occasion he received his injuries the machine was stopped and he noticed' a piece of hardwood lumber (hickory) on the floor of the shed and “I wanted to split it open and make me a hammer handle”; that he picked up the piece of hardwood lumber and “I went to a machine and stuck it there and it was hard to go in.” “What hand did you take to put it in? A. Right and it was hard to go in and I taken my left and the roller caught my hand and taken it in.” He then testified that the first four fingers on his left hand were caught in the machine; that he could not pull his hand and fingers out of the machine and that he reached over and stopped the machine with his right hand; that he called Mr. Grant the foreman, and that he, Grant, and another man came and raised the roller up and got his hand out of the machine. We do not state any further of the evidence as to the extent of the injuries as we have already said that in our opinion it was sufficient to support the judgment.

On cross examination he testified:
“Q. They stopped the machine for some purpose that morning? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. When they stopped it, you didn’t have anything else to do ? A. No.
“Q. You were supposed to sit and wait until they got it repaired? A. Yes, to wait.
“Q. And after it was repaired and started, you started to tying? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. When it stopped you picked up a piece of hickory? A. Yes, sir. Hardwood.
“Q. A two-inch square piece, twenty-two or four inches long? A. About.
“Q.

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Bluebook (online)
165 S.W.2d 785, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/employers-reinsurance-corp-v-brooks-texapp-1942.