J. & W. CORPORATION v. Ball

414 S.W.2d 143, 10 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 170, 1967 Tex. LEXIS 297
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 11, 1967
DocketA-11629
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 414 S.W.2d 143 (J. & W. CORPORATION v. Ball) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J. & W. CORPORATION v. Ball, 414 S.W.2d 143, 10 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 170, 1967 Tex. LEXIS 297 (Tex. 1967).

Opinions

GREENHILL, Justice.

M. A. Ball was injured when the wheel of a truck being operated by an employee of the J. & W. Corporation rolled or spun over his left hand. Trial was to a jury which found defendant’s agent to have been negligent. The jury acquitted Ball of contributory negligence but found, among other things, that Ball had assumed the risk. Both parties filed motions for judgment, and the plaintiff’s motion was granted. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed. 404 S.W.2d 616.

The defendant corporation operated the Texoma Truck Stop in Denison, Texas. It sold fuel for trucks, repaired flat tires, and made minor repairs. The B & J Garage, a separate business, was located about 200 yards from the Truck Stop. The plaintiff Ball had worked at the garage for about six weeks and had bought it about three days before the accident. He slept at the garage and was available for work there or at the Truck Stop.

On the night in question, a truck pulled into the vicinity of the Truck Stop. The driver wanted to have his truck’s fan belt tightened and to have a tire repaired which was going flat. The driver then went to the B & J Garage to ask if “they” could repair his fan belt. Ball said that he could. The driver then turned the truck over to Billy Gilbert, an employee of the defendant Truck Stop, who set about to repair the tire. Meanwhile, Ball took his tools and walked over to the Truck Stop.

[144]*144The vehicle involved was described as a tandem axle truck tractor with dual wheels on each side of each axle. As will be hereinafter discussed, the number and location of the wheels is not made clear. The truck tractor, here called the tractor, pulled a trailer loaded with brick. The flat was on a left-rear tire of the tractor. Apparently there were four wheels and tires at the left rear. The tires in tandem were about 10 inches wide and there was about 5 or 6 inches between the tires. Gilbert had backed the tractor and trailer into an enclosed “grease stall.” The axle of the tractor was too low for the use of a jack. Gilbert was therefore attempting to back the tractor’s rear wheels onto two blocks of wood so a jack could be used. Each block consisted of two 2x6 inch pieces of wood nailed together, thus making a 4 x 6. They were about two feet long. The top piece was a little shorter to give the blocks a slant upward. Gilbert had placed his 15-year-old stepson, Bobby Harvey, on a small step ladder along the wall of the grease stall to assist him. Gilbert watched Bobby in the rear view mirror, and Bobby was to signal Gilbert when the wheels were on the blocks. Gilbert had made one unsuccessful attempt to back the wheels onto the blocks (the blocks had slipped in an effort to effect traction against the tire) when the plaintiff Ball volunteered to help.

When Ball arrived at the Truck Stop and in the vicinity of the truck, he put his tools down in front of the cab of the tractor. He was to begin work on the fan belt when Gilbert got the wheels on the blocks. Up to this point, the testimony of the witnesses was in agreement. After this point, the three witnesses were unable to agree.

Billy Gilbert, the defendant’s employee who was in the cab of the tractor, testified that he saw Ball with his tools at the front of the tractor. He told Ball that Ball could start with his repairs when the wheels were on the blocks. He did not ask Ball for help, did not know he was attempting to help, did not thereafter hear Ball shout at him to “hold it.” It was Gilbert’s practice not to use a “scotch block” or chock to check the wheels; and he was watching his stepson, Bobby Harvey, on the step ladder for assistance. The only other time Gilbert saw Ball was after Ball was hurt.

Bobby Harvey testified that all that was said between Ball and Gilbert was that Ball could start work on the fan belt when the truck was on the blocks. He stated that when Ball saw the wheels slipping against the block, he (Ball) grabbed the 4x6 block [not the scotch block or chock] and attempted to push it under the wheel from the rear. The truck came up on the blocks, and the plaintiff’s hand went under the wheel. The tire spun and caught plaintiff’s hand.

Ball testified that when he saw what Gilbert was trying to do, he told Gilbert he would help him. Ball said this conversation occurred when the two men were standing in front of the tractor. He said, “I told him I would help him, get in the truck and back it up on those blocks.” He admitted that Gilbert did not ask him for help. Ball testified that he picked up a scotch block which was on the floor. It was a piece of 4 x 4 wood about 18 inches long. He stooped down near the left-rear wheels of the tractor and held the block in his left hand. When the truck backed up on the blocks, Ball put the block in front of “the wheels.” It is not clear which wheels Ball referred to. At one place he said it was “the front left dual of the tractor”; i. e., in front of the forward wheels of the tandem. At another place he said it was the “front of the rear wheel.” Ball also testified that his hands were between the two left-rear wheels. There is no picture or drawing of the truck in evidence, and we are unable to get or to convey an accurate picture of the facts concerning the wheels. In any event, Ball said he hollered to Gilbert to “hold it.” Though Ball had squatted near the wheels, he thought Gilbert could see him; and he testified that “I just assumed he heard me when I hollered at him . . . hold [145]*145it and I’ll scotch it for you.” He said, “It looked like he [Gilbert] was looking at me.” There was some noise in the grease room when the truck’s diesel motor was accelerated, but Ball said that the motor at this time was idling and he thought Gilbert would hear him. He said Gilbert had applied his brakes when he hollered at Gilbert to hold it when he attempted to put the block in front of “the wheels.” Suddenly, he said, the wheels spun and his hand and the block were carried under the wheel. At another place Ball testified that he supposed that the truck rolled back down and twisted the block and his hand under the tire. Ball’s hand was seriously injured.

It is difficult to ascertain from the Statement of Facts exactly what Ball did. He testified several times that it all happened so fast he did not really know what happened. When he was asked to demon--strate what he did, or to show on a blackboard where the wheels, the scotch block, the 4x6 blocks and the people were, he testified that he held the block “this a way,” put it under “like that,” and “I come down and put it here like this,” “by this wheel,” “about a foot over in between there,” and that he put the block “between both those wheels.” He did say that the truck had already been backed onto the blocks and had stopped, and that he had then shouted to Gilbert to “hold it” when he squatted, facing the left-rear tandem wheels, and shoved the scotch block with his left hand into the wheels. The wheels then spun and caught his hand, block and all. It is not clear whether the wheels spun forward or backward. Ball did not say which way it spun; Bobby Harvey said “backward.” Respondent Ball in his Reply Brief takes the position that it is immaterial which way the wheels moved.

Ball said he had done the same operation thousands of times. He thought it was necessary to do that [insert the block] “to keep it from rolling off those blocks.” He stated that “when you start back up on those blocks, they’ll scoot.” Ball said he did not think what he was doing was so dangerous.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Farley Ex Rel. Farley v. M M Cattle Co.
549 S.W.2d 453 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1977)
Heil Co. v. Grant
534 S.W.2d 916 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1976)
Goodpasture, Inc. v. S & J FARMS, INC.
528 S.W.2d 99 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1975)
Weakley v. Fischbach & Moore, Inc.
515 F.2d 1260 (Fifth Circuit, 1975)
Hopkins v. Texas Power and Light Company
514 S.W.2d 143 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1974)
Biscayne Texas Properties v. Miner
502 S.W.2d 225 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Kelley v. General Telephone Co. of Southwest
485 F.2d 1315 (Fifth Circuit, 1973)
Walker v. Texas Electric Service Company
499 S.W.2d 20 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Edelmira Legarreta De Urias v. El Paso City Lines
477 F.2d 126 (Fifth Circuit, 1973)
Marshall v. Ranne
493 S.W.2d 533 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Hands v. Arkon
489 S.W.2d 633 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1972)
Hillman-Kelley v. Pittman
489 S.W.2d 689 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1972)
Armstrong v. Callan
485 S.W.2d 350 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1972)
James W. Wyly v. Burlington Industries, Inc.
452 F.2d 807 (Fifth Circuit, 1971)
Rabb v. Coleman
469 S.W.2d 384 (Texas Supreme Court, 1971)
Coleman v. Rabb
461 S.W.2d 431 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
414 S.W.2d 143, 10 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 170, 1967 Tex. LEXIS 297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-w-corporation-v-ball-tex-1967.