Phoenix Insurance Company v. Bradley

415 S.W.2d 928, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2613
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 2, 1967
Docket7813
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 415 S.W.2d 928 (Phoenix Insurance Company v. Bradley) 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
Phoenix Insurance Company v. Bradley, 415 S.W.2d 928, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2613 (Tex. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

*929 FANNING, Justice.

A workmen’s compensation case. The jury found that appellee employee was in the course of his employment at the time he received injuries. All issues were answered favorably for plaintiff-appellee, and the court entered judgment for plaintiff-appellee for compensation and for certain medical expenses. Appellant insurer has appealed.

Appellant presents two points on appeal, contending that there was no evidence that appellee employee was in the course and scope of his employment when he received the injuries sued upon and that such finding of the jury also was so against the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unfair and unjust.

For a comprehensive discussion of the law applicable to the determination of such character of points see Chief Justice Calvert’s article, “ ‘No Evidence’ and ‘Insufficient Evidence’ Points of Error’ ”, 38 Tex.Law Rev., No. 4, p. 361.

Plaintiff employee at the time he received the injuries sued upon was an employee of Roosevelt Hotel in Houston. His principal duty was that of a desk clerk; he also lived in the hotel and got his room and laundry as part of his compensation; his regular schedule called for an 8 hour shift, however, he would stay at his desk until another desk clerk came on to take over the desk and relieve him; appellee also testified as to performing such other duties for his employer as might be needed. While appellee was not required to live in the hotel, it was convenient for the hotel to have appellee live in the hotel and it was also convenient for appellee to live in the hotel.

Plaintiff-appellee testified that on December 4, 1964, the date of his injuries, that he relieved another desk clerk at 2:00 P.M., and went to work and was supposed to get off work at 10:00 P.M., when another desk clerk, Andrew Vondee, who also lived in the hotel, was due to take over as desk clerk and relieve plaintiff-appellee. Plaintiff testified that when he got off work at 10:00 P.M. it was his usual custom to go and eat and' return to the hotel and go to bed; that he would usually get up in the morning at 7:00 or 8:00 A.M., that from 7:00 or 8:00 A.M. he would “go by the office and see if there was anything for me to do and if they didn’t have anything I would walk around for a while and come back and go in my room and rest before I would go to work at 2:00 o’clock”, that he did not punch a time clock, that he just had to be on duty. We quote in part further testimony of plaintiff-appellee as follows:

“Q. When you got off at 10:00 o’clock at night were you required to continue any duties around the hotel any place?
A. If there was anybody sick or didn’t feel like coming to work they would notify you and you could work in their place.
Q. Had you ever done that before?
A. Absolutely I have.
Q. Mr. Bradley, I want you to think about this night of December 4, 1964. I want you to tell the jury what time you went on duty that day.
A. I went on at 2:00 o’clock.
Q. Who did you relieve at 2:00 o’clock ?
I relieved the morning man. >
* *
Q. Did you get off at 10:00 o’clock?
A. No, not that night.
Q. What took place that day or night that prevented you from getting off at 10:00 o’clock?
A. Well, they have a call — you call the clerk that is going to relieve you *930 before time for him to come to work and wake him up.
Q. Did you do that that night?
A. Yes, I called him at 9:30.
Q. Was this the first time you called him?
A. That was the first time.
Q. When you say you called ‘him’, who are you talking about?
A. Vondee.
Q. But Andrew Vondee was the person who was to relieve you, is that correct ?
A. Yes.
Q. You called him for the first time at 9:30?
A. Yes.
A. I told him it was 9:30 just like I always do.
Q. Did you hang up ?
A. Yes, he answered. I hung up.
Q. Did he come down between 9:30 when you called him and 10:00 o’clock when you got off?
A. No.
Q. Had he ever been late before?
A. Well, sometimes five or ten minutes. I didn’t pay no attention to nothing like that.
Q. What time did he come down this night?
A. I called him three times thirty minutes apart.
Q. Did you call him again at 10:00 o’clock?
A. Yes, and 10:30.
Q. Did he answer his phone in his room all those three occasions?
A. He answered every time.
⅜ sjs iji ⅝ ⅜ *
Q. When you called him on these two occasions what, if anything, did he say to you, if you recall?
A. He just said I will be down after a little.
Q.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
415 S.W.2d 928, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phoenix-insurance-company-v-bradley-texapp-1967.