Prewitt v. Waller

423 S.W.2d 641, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2211
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 29, 1967
DocketNo. 17001
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 423 S.W.2d 641 (Prewitt v. Waller) 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
Prewitt v. Waller, 423 S.W.2d 641, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2211 (Tex. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

DIXON, Chief Justice.

Myrtie Prewitt and Duggan Prewitt, individually and doing business as Prewitt Cleaners, have appealed from a judgment of $9,500 in favor of appellee Jessie Fay Waller, who was an employee of appellants.

The suit is a common law action for damages alleged to have been sustained by appellee Waller when she fell over a rubber rug or mat while in the course of her employment on premises where appellants were operating their business. Appellee further alleged that appellants did not carry workmen’s compensation insurance, though eligible to do so; therefore under Art. 8306, Sections 1 and 4, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St., appellants were not entitled to the defense of contributory negligence.

Appellants made Guy Lewis, an insurance agent, a third party defendant. They alleged that some time before appellee’s accident they had applied through Lewis for workmen’s compensation insurance, but Lewis had negligently failed to present their application to the company he represented. The third party action against Lewis was severed from appellee Waller’s suit and this appeal is concerned only with the judgment against the Prewitts.

In an amended petition appellee alleges that on August 6, 1964 she was an employee of appellants’ at 4313 Bryan Street in the City of Dallas, one of two locations where appellants operated their business. On the occasion in question upon arriving at work at about 7:15 A.M. while she was walking down an aisle she stumbled and fell over a rubber rug which had been left protruding in the aisle. As a result she suffered serious injuries.

In her amended petition appellee alleged that appellants were negligent (1) in failing to furnish her a safe place in which to [643]*643work; (2) in failing to remove the mat upon which appellee tripped and fell; and (3)in failing to provide safety appliances, including the mat, which were of such a kind, nature and character as to be safe.

Appellants filed a motion for judgment non obstante veredicto which was overruled. The court rendered judgment based on the jury verdict.

We shall first consider appellants’ third point of error in which they assert error on the part of the court in accepting the jury’s finding in answering Special Issue No. 10. They say that there is no evidence to support the jury’s finding that on the day of the accident appellants had in their employ three or more employees. Issues on contributory negligence were conditionally submitted. Having answered “Yes” to Special Issue No. 10 the jury, pursuant to the court’s instructions, did not answer the contributory negligence issues.

We see no merit in appellants’ third point. Appellants claim that on August 4, 1964 appellee Waller was the only employee working at their Bryan Street place of business. But the evidence is undisputed that there were other employees working at appellants’ other place of business, 4002 Urban Street. The two establishments constituted one enterprise. The workmen’s compensation law under such circumstances is applicable to all employees. Barron v. Standard Accident Ins. Co., 122 Tex. 179, 53 S.W.2d 769 (1932); Merrick v. Street, 91 S.W.2d 851 (Tex.Civ.App., Fort Worth 1936). There was testimony from Myrtie Prewitt that during the month of August 1964 there were perhaps seven and at least five employees of appellants. Appellee Waller testified that during the year 1964 there were at least four employees working for appellants at their two locations. The third point of error is overruled.

In their fourth point on appeal appellants assert error on the part of the court in admitting the testimony of Guy Lewis, appellants’ insurance agent, that on August 10, 1964, four days after the accident, appellants applied for a policy of workmen’s compensation insurance. Ap-pellee offered the testimony for the purpose of showing from the payroll data and other information contained in the application signed by appellants, that they had more than three employees during 1964.

Lewis’ testimony does not show the number of employees of appellants prior to the accident. It is too indefinite to serve the purpose for which it was offered. We think it was error to admit the testimony.

But we must hold that under the circumstances the error was harmless because the testimony of Myrtie Prewitt herself will support a finding that appellants employed more than three employees during August 1964. Appellants’ fourth point is overruled.

We turn now to appellants’ first point of error. Appellants say that there is no evidence to support the jury’s answers to Special Issues Nos. 5 and 6.

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Bluebook (online)
423 S.W.2d 641, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2211, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prewitt-v-waller-texapp-1967.