Texas Employers' Ins. Ass'n v. Bounds

218 S.W.2d 496
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 24, 1949
DocketNo. 4555
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 218 S.W.2d 496 (Texas Employers' Ins. Ass'n v. Bounds) 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
Texas Employers' Ins. Ass'n v. Bounds, 218 S.W.2d 496 (Tex. Ct. App. 1949).

Opinion

WALKER, Justice.

This is a workmen’s compensation case. Employee is Crandle Bounds. Employer is Haslam Lumber Company. Insurer is Texas Employers’ Insurance Association.

Employee filed this suit against Insurer as an appeal from an award of the Industrial Accident Board. The case was tried to a jury, and on the jury’s verdict, made in response to Special Issues, the trial court rendered judgment in behalf of employee against insurer for compensation for total and permanent disability, payable in a lump sum. From this judgment, insurer has appealed.

The verdict has not been attacked, nor has any phase or incident of the litigation, other than the trial court’s denial of insurer’s request that one of the papers introduced in evidence be delivered to the jury upon their retirement, to be considered by them while deliberating upon their verdict. The following matters are relevant to insurer’s Points of Error, assigning error to this action of the trial court:

The document which insurer requested be sent out with the jury was a copy of employee’s claim for compensation, and the part of this document which insurer want[497]*497ed the jury to consider is the description therein of employee’s injury and the way and manner in which the injury occurred. This reads: “Cause of Injury: I was hooking logs behind a loader and when I picked up on tongs -behind a stump, I severely injured my back. State part of body injured and nature and extent of injury: Nerves, muscles, bones and tendons of the lower -back, resulting in serious -and permanent disability.”

Under insurer’s argument, the significant element of this quotation is the statement of how employee came to be hurt. Insurer construes this as meaning that employee sustained an injury while he'was lifting some tongs, and insurer says that this is in fiat conflict with employee’s testimony of how he was hurt.

This claim was signed by employee, and we agree with insurer that the document in its entirety was introduced in evidence. However, the document was never in the jury’s -possession, and the only part thereof which was actually read before the jury was the part quoted above.

Employee’s testimony of how he came to be injured (no other person testified in his behalf on this issue) may be summarized as follows: At about 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon of June 6th (5th?) 1947, employee and several other employees of Haslam Lumber Company were engaged in placing logs upon a motor truck, for removal from the woods. These logs were lifted from the ground by a machine called a loader, and were seized and held during movement by grapnells called tongs. One set of tongs was- attached to one end of the log which was to be moved, and another set of tongs was attached to the other end of this log. The two sets of tongs were fastened to a cable which the loader drew in and thus moved the log. Employee said that he attached a set of tongs to a log, but that the log lay .behind a stump some 12 or 14 inches high, and when the loader attempted to pull the log over -the stump these tongs came loose and dropped the log. After several attempts to move the log in this way had failed, employee said that he put the tongs aside and undertook, by hand and unassisted, to lift one end of the log over the stump, and that while he was thus engaged, he experienced pain in the lower part of his back. This log was about 20 feet long and about as big around as a syrup bucket.

Employee made no complaint of pain at the time, nor later during the day to his fellow employees or to his employer, but he said that when he arrived at his home he was in pain and felt ill, and that his mother massaged his back that night. It was in •proof that on the next day he informed the office manager of Haslam Lumber Company that he had hurt his back while at work, and that he procured from her a written order to Dr. Sandifer, referred to as the Company Doctor, for medical treatment. He had an interview with Dr. Sandifer that day, told Dr. Sandifer that he had hurt the lower part of his back while picking up the end of a log, and received treatment for a muscular sprain. Dr. Sandifer put an adhesive plaster on his back, and exposed his back to infra-red rays. Employee had eleven of these heat, or light, treatments, during the period -beginning on June 7th, 1947, and ending on June 23rd, 17 days later; and he then procured his foreman to take him to another physician, Dr. Oates, who also put tape on his back and gave him a number of injections (employee said 12; Oates said 8 or 10, and that employee might be right) of a vitamin preparation, apparently making the same diagnosis of muscular sprain as had Dr. Sandifer. Employee exhibited symptoms of pain in the lower back, and told Dr. Oates that he had injured his lower 'back in lifting a log or pole over a stump, and also told Dr. Oates that this occurred on June 6, 1947, “around noon; after noon.” The treatments of these two physicians extended over several weeks, but eventually Dr. Oates discharged employee as -able to return to work, and employee did return to work for Haslam Lumber Company, and remained at work, according to him, for four days. He said that this was light work but that it hurt his back, and that he quit it for that reason, at the end of the four days. He said that he had never done any other work for Haslam Lumber Company. However, later on he did work some two or 'three weeks for a concern which was [498]*498laying a pipe line; he said that he quit his job because his employers were about to give him heavier work which he did not feel able to do. He also secured temporary employment as a nightwatchman. This work lasted about six weeks, and apparently was performed at a time between the time employee said that he quit Haslam’s employ at the end of the four days and the time employee began work for the pipe line concern. In the meantime, on September 15, 1947, employee was also examined by Dr. Grice, at the instance of employee’s attorneys. Employee complained to this physician of pain in the lower part of his back and in his legs. Dr. Grice made various laboratory tests and X-ray photographs of the area of the body about which employee complained, and gave employee a salicylate prescription. He also recommended that employee procure a belt to support his back.

In addition to the foregoing, employee introduced medical proof from Dr. Grice in support of his theory of disability.

Insurer paid employee the sum of $64.80 as compensation, for which credit has been allowed insurer in the judgment.

. We note, in passing, that' employee’s proof of how he came to be injured was made under allegations which are equivalent to the statement quoted from employee’s claim. The petition alleges: “On or about the 6th day of June, 1947, while working within, the scope of his employment for his employer, .Haslam Lumber Company, the Plaintiff sustained severe personal injuries when he was picking up on some tongs while hooking logs behind a loader.” This is but a re-arrangement of the language of the claim, without any change of meaning.

Employee said that he never told anyone he hurt himself picking up tongs. He said, in effect, that he told his lawyers that he hurt himself picking up a log, not tongs. Concerning the statement quoted from his claim, he testified:

“Q. When you employed your attorneys —you told them all about this serious accident, didn’t you? A. That’s right.

“Q. Told them in detail how- you got hurt, didn’t you? A. That’s right.

“Q'.

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218 S.W.2d 496, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-employers-ins-assn-v-bounds-texapp-1949.