Hardware Dealers Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. King

408 S.W.2d 790, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2680
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 9, 1966
Docket11447
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 408 S.W.2d 790 (Hardware Dealers Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. King) 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
Hardware Dealers Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. King, 408 S.W.2d 790, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2680 (Tex. Ct. App. 1966).

Opinion

HUGHES, Justice.

This is a workmen’s compensation case. The case was tried to a jury and upon its verdict judgment was rendered for the employe, Agnes L. King, and against the insurance carrier, Hardware Dealers Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

The jury was asked, “Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that Agnes King was not hired or retained by Musser Motors, Inc. as a domestic servant ? ” 1 The term “domestic servant” was defined, in the charge, as “a person hired or employed primarily for the performance of household duties and chores, the maintenance of the home, and the care, comfort and convenience of members of the household.” The answer of the jury to the above issue was favorable to appellee. Appellant did not object to the submission of this issue.

Appellant’s first two points, jointly briefed, are that the jury’s answer to this issue was without any evidence to support it, and because there was “insufficient evidence” to support such answer.

These points, in our opinion, raise only a question of law, not a question of fact. The question of law is whether there is any evidence of probative value, more than a scintilla, to sustain the answer of the jury. That the answer of the jury may be against the overwhelming weight and preponderance of evidence as to be clearly wrong or manifestly unjust, a question of fact, is not before us and we express no opinion with reference to it. Bolstad v. Egleson, Tex.Civ.App., 326 S.W.2d 506, Houston, writ ref., n. r. e.

In deciding the “no evidence” point it is our duty to view the evidence and inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the verdict, disregarding all evidence to the contrary. See 38 Tex. Law Review 361, Chief Justice Calvert, “No Evidence” and “Insufficient Evidence.”

We will now recite evidence which, in our opinion, has probative force sufficient to support the finding of the jury.

Musser Motor Company is a family corporation, owned by Rufus Musser and his son and a brother. It is engaged in the sale of automobiles and their repair. Mr. Musser is president of the corporation and his wife works for the Company as a bookkeeper for which she receives no pay.

*792 Agnes Louise King worked for the Musser Corporation for some ten or twelve years. She originally started to work for the Mussers in Graham, Texas, and then moved to Terrell when Mr. Musser moved his place of business there. Her salary ranged from $44.00 to $65.00 per week, based on pay of $1.00 per hour, during this twelve-year period. The services which she performed for her employer were mainly those of a general handy woman and included such things as cleaning up at the office, waxing floors, cleaning windows, working at company parties and doing about anything which the Mussers considered necessary in the furtherance of the company’s business. In addition to these services, Mrs. King was often sent to the homes of the various officers to clean up, cook and baby-sit. Mr. Musser testified that he felt that since the corporation officers were helping pay Mrs. King’s salary, she should work in their homes. No matter where Mrs. King was assigned to work, she was continuously carried on the company’s payroll and compensation premiums were paid on her just as they were paid on other company employees. The salary received by appellee was greatly in excess of the salaries received by domestic servants in the Terrell area.

On the day of the injury, appellee first went by the Musser office and then went to Rufus Musser’s home around 7:30 or 8:00 that morning. She spent most of the morning cooking and the injury occurred about 1:30 p. m. that afternoon. At the time of her injury, appellee was following the specific instructions of Mrs. Musser to move a cast iron lawn chair out of the Musser’s driveway and take it around the house to the front porch, so that some of the boys from the company could come out and pick it up.

Appellee testified that the chair which she was instructed to move weighed about 95 to 100 pounds; that she, contrary to instructions, moved the chair by herself, and that as she picked the chair up she felt a “catch” in her back.

Mrs. Musser testified:

“Agnes King worked for Mr. Musser and me here in Terrell and when we lived in Graham, and performed about the same kind of duties at both places. She was carried on the company payroll at all times and made $1.00 per hour. She was an able-bodied employee before she got hurt and never complained of anything being wrong with her. She injured herself moving a lawn chair. I had intended to have her husband, who was also a company employee, come out and help her move the chair. She did all the jobs that either I or my husband assigned to her from time to time. She worked at the place of business or where-ever any of the stockholders wanted her to work. She worked at new-car showings and at company parties. She performed janitor work at the place of business whenever she was told to. At the time she was hurt, she was doing work I wanted her to do, except that I wanted someone to help her.”

Mr. Musser testified:

“I have known Agnes King and her husband about 10 or 12 years. They worked for me in the past. We employed her husband about 10 or 12 years ago' and then employed her right about the same time. Agnes occupied the same status the whole time she worked for us. We carried her on the payroll of Musser Motor Company from the time we first employed her until she last worked for us. My wife and I assigned various tasks to Agnes, just as we do any of our employees. At the time she got hurt, she was making $1.00 per hour and was still an employee of Musser Motor Company. She was hired to take care of our cabin we had in Graham, to work at shop parties, customer relations parties and to take care of the house. I cannot estimate what percentage of her work was performed at the shop and what percentage was performed elsewhere. I considered her available to work for *793 Musser Motor Company at any time or place we needed her. She was paid about three times as much as domestic servants in the Terrell area. She was a general handy woman and performed every duty we assigned her. Agnes was sent to take care of the homes and children of the various corporate officers whenever they were busy with some corporate function. She was very responsible and was often sent to relieve the various corporate officers of their responsibilities. She was a valuable asset of Musser Motor Company. We all leaned on Agnes pretty heavy because she was a valuable part of the corporate picture. We paid workmen’s compensation premiums on her for years and years.
⅜ :Jc ⅜ ¡j< jf: ⅝
■Q Mr. Musser, your wife, Mrs. Inez Musser, works at the Musser Motor Company?
A Yes, sir.
Q What salary is she paid?
A None.
Q Was there any connection in her working at the motor company and your hiring Agnes King on the company payroll?
A Well, yes.

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Bluebook (online)
408 S.W.2d 790, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2680, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hardware-dealers-mutual-fire-insurance-co-v-king-texapp-1966.