Home/Court of Appeals of Texas/Nickelson v. State

Nickelson v. State

567 S.W.2d 43, 1978 Tex. App. LEXIS 3310
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided May 17, 1978·No. No. 12717·Published

Opinion

SHANNON, Justice.

The State of Texas sued William H. Lewis and appellant Gary L. Nickelson in the district court of Travis County for sums claimed to be owed as' contributions to the Unemployment Compensation Fund for the last two quarters of 1974 and the first quarter of 1975. Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5221b--1, et seq. (1971). Upon trial to the court, judgment was entered for the State. We will reverse that judgment.

The State pleaded that Nickelson and Lewis were partners in a dry cleaning business in Fort Worth, known as University Cleaners. Nickelson specially denied that he and Lewis were ever partners in the business. Lewis filed an answer but did not appear at trial. Nickelson, to the contrary, appeared and contested the State’s case.

The question before the court was whether Nickelson was a partner in the cleaning business during the period of time in question. If Nickelson were a partner, he was liable for unemployment taxes. The district court entered judgment against Lewis and Nickelson, jointly and severally, for $695.46. By entry of the judgment, the court necessarily concluded that Nickelson was a partner in the cleaning business.

Nickelson claims there was no evidence to support the determination that he was a partner in the business. The State’s only evidence was a document entitled “Joint Application for Total Transfer of Compensation Experience.” That document is copied below:

[45] 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Nickelson v. State, 567 S.W.2d 43, 1978 Tex. App. LEXIS 3310 (Tex. Ct. App. 1978).

567 S.W.2d 43 (Nickelson v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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