Texas Employers Ins. Ass'n v. Grimes

268 S.W.2d 786, 1954 Tex. App. LEXIS 2620
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 6, 1954
Docket6700
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 268 S.W.2d 786 (Texas Employers Ins. Ass'n v. Grimes) 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. Grimes, 268 S.W.2d 786, 1954 Tex. App. LEXIS 2620 (Tex. Ct. App. 1954).

Opinion

FANNING, Justice.

This is a workmen’s compensation case. Fredie E. Grimes, as an employee of Edwards Bros. Lumber Company, after an unsatisfactory award by the Industrial Accident Board, broúght this suit to recover compensation in a lump sum for alleged total and permanent disability. Upon trial by jury, the court rendered judgment for' the plaintiff based upon the verdict, awarding plaintiff lump-sum award for totál and permanent disability (401 weeks) at the rate of $25 per week (less 10 weeks compensation at $22.40 per week paid by appellant to appellee), with statutory interest on matured 'installments and less statutory discount on the unmatured installments. The defendant, Texas Employers’ Insurance Association has appealed.

All of appellant’s points relate to the subject of average weekly wages. The statute principally involved in Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes of Texas, article 8309, sec. 1, subsections 1, 2 and 3. For brevity, the parts of said statute will be referred to simply as subsec. 1, subsec. 2, and subsec. 3.

The jury in response to special issue No. 9 (relating to subsec. 1) found that appel-lee did work in the employment in which he was working at the time of the injury substantially the whole of- the year immediately preceding the injury, etc. In response to special issue No. 10 the jury found that appellee’s average daily wage which he earned during the days he was so employed was $7.50 per day. The jury did not answer special issues Nos. 11 and 12 (relating to subsec. 2) which were issues relating to the average weekly wages.of other employees of the. same class as Fredie E. Grimes, etc. The jury in response to special issue No. 13 (relating to subsec. 3) found that the sum of $45 per week would represent a fair and just average weekly wage, etc.

Appellant contends, among other things, that the evidence does not support the finding of the jury on special issue No. 9 that appellee worked substantially the whole of the year immediately preceding his injury. The term “substantially the whole, of the year” has been defined as “exactly 300 days or close to, or near to 300 days.” Petroleum Casualty Co. v. Williams, Tex.Com.App., 15 S.W.2d 553, 555; Traders & General Ins. Co. v. Slusser, Tex.Civ.App., 110 S.W.2d 598, error dism.; Federal Underwriters Exchange v. Bullard, Tex.Civ.App., 128 S.W.2d 126.

The case of Texas Employers’ Ins. Ass’n v. Ebers, Tex.Civ.App., 134 S.W.2d 797, 799, holds that a workmen’s compensation claimant who worked 260 days of the year immediatély preceding his injury, did not “work substantially as much as 300 days” during the 12 m.onth period immediately preceding his injury within the terms of the compensation act.

In Industrial Lloyds v. Denum, Tex.Civ.App., 160 S.W.2d 966, 967, (writ ref., w.m.) it is stated: “It cannot be said as a matter of law that 278 days amounts to ‘substantially the whole of such immediately preceding year,’ against the affirmative requirement of this section that the employee’s average annual wage shall consist of 300 times the average daily wage.”

In Travelers Ins. Co. v. Noble, Tex.Civ.App., 129 ; S.W.2d 778, 782, (dism.cor.judgm.) it was held that where an employee testified that he worked “around 285 days” during previous year, and punched a clock *788 during that time, thus indicating that an exact record of his working days could have been determined from employer, but employer did not produce such records, such testimony authorized finding that employee had worked substantially the whole of the year immediately preceding the injury. We quote from the court’s opinion in this case as follows: ‘Q. How many days do you think you worked during the year? A. I never kept up with it, I would say around 285 days though. Q. Of course you punched a clock as to the time and the records would show? A. Yes, sir.’ From the last answer, we can infer that the exact record of appellee’s working days during the particular period could have been determined from his employer, but was not produced.”

Appellee Grimes in response to the question as to how many days in logging that he put in for his employer for the year prior to his injury stated: "Well, I would roughly say that it zvas somewhere between two seventy and two eighty, just roughly guessing at that more or less.” His counsel asked him further “You think it wouldn’t be under two seventy and not over two eighty,” and appellee replied: “No, sir, I don’t believe it would.” He further testified that he was ‘drawing seven and a half’ a day, and that he would draw the same pay for the extra time that he put in on Sundays ‘for repairing bridges and things like that.’ ” Appellee also testified that he had worked “lots of Sundays” and worked “quite a number of Sundays”; that he did not log on Sundays and that when he worked on Sundays it would be “a check-up or preparation for continuing on (your) logging;” and that he received the same pay for the extra time he put in on Sundays. Appellee, however, did not testify as to how long or how many hours he worked on Sundays, nor whether he put in full days or part days, nor does he give any approximate number of the Sundays he worked. His evidence is somewhat speculative and is not as direct as the evidence of C. F. Mahner, the bookkeeper and payroll clerk of appellee’s employer, who testified that the records of appellee’s employer showed that appellee worked 260 days and 1½ hours as a logger for the employer during the 12 months period in question, and also the employer’s written wage statement (Defendant’s Exhibit No. 1) shows that appellee worked 260 days and 1 ½ hours during said period. No other persons (other than ap-pellee and Mr. Mahner with the payroll records) testify as to how many days appel-lee worked for the employer during the 12 months period. It is our opinion that in view of the the speculative, indefinite and “rough guesswork” nature of appellee’s testimony with its direct contradiction by the payroll records of the employer the evidence in this case does not support the jury’s finding in response to special issue No. 9.

Appellant also contends, among other things, that the jury’s findings with respect to special issue No. 13 of a just and fair average weekly wage rate under sub-sec. 3 cannot be supported under the record. The jury did not answer special issues Nos. 11 and 12, with respect to whether other employees had worked substantially a year, etc. (under subsec. 2). The case of American Employer’s Ins. Co. v. Singleton, Tex.Com.App., 24 S.W.2d 26, holds among other things, that before a compensation claimant can resort to subsec. 2 claimant has the burden to show by competent evidence that it is impracticable to compute the average weekly wage under subsec. 1, and before resorting to subsec. 3 claimant has the burden of showing by competent evidence that it is impracticable to compute the average weekly wage under either subsections 1 or 2. We hold that the finding of the jury in response to special issue No.

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Bluebook (online)
268 S.W.2d 786, 1954 Tex. App. LEXIS 2620, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-employers-ins-assn-v-grimes-texapp-1954.