Spear v. CENTRAL DISTRIBUTING COMPANY

384 S.W.2d 180, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2354
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 28, 1964
Docket14287
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 384 S.W.2d 180 (Spear v. CENTRAL DISTRIBUTING COMPANY) 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
Spear v. CENTRAL DISTRIBUTING COMPANY, 384 S.W.2d 180, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2354 (Tex. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

BARROW, Justice.

This is a damage suit. Appellant, Beaty A. Spear, a building contractor, brought this suit against appellee, Central Distributing Company, a wholesale appliance dealer, to recover for personal injuries sustained in a fall from a balcony in appellee’s warehouse. Although the jury made findings of primary negligence and damages favorable to appellant, a take-nothing judgment was entered upon the jury’s findings of contributory negligence proximately causing the fall.

Appellant presents forty-eight points which may be summarized and discussed under five general complaints: there is no evidence to support the jury’s findings of contributory negligence or, in any event, these findings are so contrary to the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be wrong; the jury committed several *182 acts of misconduct; there are irreconcilable conflicts in the jury findings; the trial court erred in refusing to submit other requested issues of primary negligence; and the trial court improperly excluded some of appellant’s medical evidence.

The jury found primary negligence against appellee in failing to warn appellant about the non-weight bearing surface located in part of the balcony, but convicted appellant of contributory negligence in failing to keep a proper lookout for his own safety, in stepping on what he should have known was a non-weight bearing surface and in stepping between the 2x4 floor joists. Each of these findings of negligence was found to be a proximate cause of the accident.

The principal finding on this appeal is that of improper lookout, in that appellant concedes that many of his asserted errors are made harmless if this finding stands. Appellant urges, however, that the only evidence on this issue is his own testimony that he did not see the sheetrock ceiling before he stepped on it, and could not do so because of the poor lighting, as well as the obstructions created by a heavy layer of dirt on the sheetrock and the position of cartons of merchandise in the balcony.

There was a dispute as to whether appellee knew that appellant was going to the balcony, and the jury found that he was both an “invitee” and a “licensee.” This conflict is immaterial on the question of his lookout, in that as an invitee he was required to exercise ordinary care for his own safety. Triangle Motors of Dallas v. Richmond, 152 Tex. 354, 258 S.W.2d 60, 1953; Renfro Drug Co. v. Lewis, 149 Tex. 507, 235 S.W.2d 609, 23 A.L.R.2d 1114, 1950; Blanks v. Southland Hotel, 149 Tex. 139, 229 S.W.2d 357, 1950; Watts v. Dallas Ry. & Terminal Co., Tex.Civ.App., 279 S.W.2d 400, writ ref. n. r. e.

A full review of the facts and circumstances relating to the lookout issue is necessary. Prior to May 31, 1962, appellant had purchased a kitchen cabinet and vented hood from appellee for a home he was constructing. The hood was not delivered as promised by this date and appellant went to the office of appellee just before noon and obtained same. On returning to the construction site, appellant learned that the hood would not fit properly in the cabinet and that a back damper and elbows were needed to properly install the hood. About 3:00 p. m. he returned to appellee’s place of business to secure these missing items. He contacted Anthony Du-dik, assistant manager of appellee, who-learned from the warehouseman that the elbows were probably stored in the balcony of a warehouse across the street from appellee’s principal place of business. Appellant accompanied Dudik to the warehouse where the injury occurred.

The physical surroundings where the fall occurred are important considerations bearing upon appellant’s lookout. It was obvious to appellant that this warehouse, and particularly the balcony, was not a show room. The warehouse had formerly been used by an automobile dealer for assembling cars and had been acquired by appellee a few months before for storage space. It had a rough and unfinished interior. The balcony, which was over part of the first floor, was reached by means of a ladder-type stairs. Appellant testified that the whole balcony was a mess. It was cut up into four different levels and merchandise was lying haphazardly around same. The lighting, which the jury found was adequate, was supplied by means of a double skylight over the center of the balcony. A few feet to the east of the stairway entrance was a row of 2 x 4 studs, about 16-inches apart, on which had formerly been built a partition wall. East of same was a wooden catwalk 3'7" wide and elevated 16" above the balcony floor. After entering the balcony Dudik went into a storeroom north of the stairway. Appellant,, unknown to Dudik, started to the east to look in boxes in that direction. He went *183 through the partition studs onto the catwalk and found a box with elbows in it. He called to Dudik, who looked out the north storage area and saw appellant about to step from the wooden catwalk to what looked like a dry ceiling. Dudik shouted a warning, but appellant was already stepping upon the sheetrock.

It is thus seen that Dudik, although about ten or twelve feet away, could see the danger. Further, appellant testified that there were many foot prints on the wooden catwalk, but none on the sheet-rock. The sheetrock was nailed under the floor joists and appellant testified that, as a builder, he knew non-weight bearing materials are nailed to the bottom of floor joists. Several photographs were introduced in evidence and the jury could properly conclude from them that appellant could have seen the sheetrock if he had looked. On cross-examination appellant testified that he usually looked where he was going, however, he admitted: “Q. I ask you, did you look where you were stepping at point 5 ? (where he stepped on sheetrock) A. I just don’t know.”

Ordinarily, whether or not a party has kept a proper lookout is a question for the jury. Lynch v. Ricketts, 158 Tex. 487, 314 S.W.2d 273, 1958; Texas & Pac. Ry. Co. v. Day, 145 Tex. 277, 197 S.W.2d 332, 1946; Arrington v. Paschall, Tex.Civ.App., 352 S.W.2d 866, writ ref. n. r. e.; Locke v. J. H. Marks Trucking Co., Tex.Civ.App., 318 S.W.2d 1, no writ hist. The applicable rule is stated in Lynch v. Ricketts, supra: “In a case of this character, standards of ordinary care such as the direction and extent of the observation which Mrs. Rick-etts should have made at any particular time cannot be fixed with any degree of certainty but must be left in large measure to the trier of fact. It is well settled, moreover, that negligence and causation, like any other ultimate fact, may be established by circumstantial as well as direct evidence. See English v. Miller, Tex. Civ.App., 43 S.W.2d 642 (wr. ref.); Henry v.

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

Related

Brunstetter v. Southern
619 S.W.2d 557 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1981)
Rosales v. Argonaut Southwest Insurance Co.
551 S.W.2d 511 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1977)
Dealers National Insurance Company v. Simmons
421 S.W.2d 669 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1967)
Sims v. McKnight
420 S.W.2d 173 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
384 S.W.2d 180, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spear-v-central-distributing-company-texapp-1964.