Traders' & General Ins. Co. v. Bulis

75 S.W.2d 965
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 1, 1934
DocketNo. 3075
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 75 S.W.2d 965 (Traders' & General Ins. Co. v. Bulis) 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
Traders' & General Ins. Co. v. Bulis, 75 S.W.2d 965 (Tex. Ct. App. 1934).

Opinion

PELPHREY, Chief Justice.

Appellee appealed from a decision of the Industrial Accident Board to the district court of Upton county, Tex. He was a rig builder by trade, and had been working for P. O. Sill since the early part of 1928, until the 6th day of March, 1933, the date of his injury. On March 4, 1933, Mr. Sill sent ap-pellee the following wire: “Start job at Santa Rita on Monday. Mailing the check.” In response to such wire appellee together with R. L. Wright and his son, John Bulis, started in his automobile for Santa Rita. While passing through the town of Rankin, a collision occurred between his car and an-( other car, in which collision appellee was severely injured.

Upon the trial in the district court, the-jury found that appellee had suffered total) and permanent incapacity and that the average daily wage of an employee of the same; class as appellee, working substantially the! whole of the year immediately preceding' [966]*966March 6, 1983, in the same or similar employment in Upton county or neighboring places, was $6 per day. Upon these and other necessary findings the court rendered judgment that appellee recover the sum of $920, with interest, as accrued installments, and $20 per week for a period of 355 weeks in a lump sum which, less a discount of 6 per cent, amounted to $5,S54.56. From that judgment this appeal has been perfected.

Opinion.

Appellant’s brief contains ten assignments of error with twelve propositions thereunder. The first assignment of error and the propositions germane thereto relate to the sufficiency of appellee’s pleading and the trial court’s action in overruling appellant's special exception to paragraph 5 of appellee’s petition. Appellant’s exception roads:

“J-5y way of special exception herein, this defendant says that all of those allegations contained in Paragraph 5 of the Plaintiff’s first amended original petition, as follows:
“ ‘Plaintiff would further show unto the court in the alternative, that if the Court is unable to determine his average weekly wage * * * then he prays the court that his average weekly wage and consequent compensation rate be fixed and determined in such amount as to the court may seem just and fair, both alike to the plaintiff and defendant;’ are insufficient in law, in that the same are immaterial and irrelevant and do not allege the power (proper) basis upon which to compute the compensation rate of the plaintiff herein, it having been previously alleged that the plaintiff for more than twelve months immediately preceding March, Cth, 1933, had been engaged in the same employment ; and of this defendant prays judgment of the court.”

The objection now urged to the said paragraph in the proposition is that appellee, if he desired to rely upon the wages of other employees as outlined in subsection 2 of article 8309, as a basis for fixing his average weekly wages, should first have alleged facts showing why it was impracticable to compute his average weekly wage on the basis outlined in subsection 1 of said article.

It appears from a reading of appellant’s above-quoted exception that- the point now made was not presented in the exception filed and therefore cannot now be urged by appellant. 3 Tex. Jur. § 111, p. 169.

The second and third assignments are:

“Second Assignment of Error: The court erred in not requiring the plaintiff to plead 'and prove facts showing that it was impracticable to compute his average weekly wage on the basis outlined in Subsection 1, Section 1, Article 8309, before admitting in evidence over defendant's objection the testimony of the plaintiff’s witness, R. L. Wright, with reference to the average wage usually paid rig builders in Upton County during the year March 6, 1932, until March 6, 1933.”
“Third' Assignment of Error: The court erred in admitting in evidence over the defendant’s objection the testimony of the plaintiff’s witness, R. L. Wright, to the effect that rig builders in Upton County and in neighboring counties were paid an average daily wage throughout the year from March 6,1932, until March 6,1933, of $10.00 per day, and that such rig builders were paid for doing such as foundation work from $5.00 a day to $10.00 per day.”

Under these two assignments, appellant presents the following proposition: “The plaintiff, having failed to allege in his petition that he had not worked in the employment in which he was working at the time of the injury, whether of the same employer or not, substantially the whole of the year immediately preceding the injury, the court erred in admitting the testimony of witnesses, which was objected to by the defendant, with reference to the wages of other employees working in the same or similar employment in the same neighborhood as the plaintiff.”

The witness was asked whether or not he was familiar With the wages ordinarily paid other rig builders, or rig builders working at repairs in Upton county and in neighboring counties during the year ending March 0, 1933, and 'Counsel for appellant interposed the following objection: “Wait just a minute. We object to that, if the court please, because it is not the proper basis upon which to compute the average weekly wage, and it not having been shown that at the time, particularly the time that this plaintiff was injured, if he was injured, in ordinary rig building, he having stated that he did not know whether he was doing repair work or whether he was doing rig building work.”

The court then said: “Tes, his question covered both, I believe.” Whereupon counsel for appellant replied: “Well, if your honor please, we object to. that because it is not the proper basis upon which to compute the average weekly wage. We have an au[967]*967thority on that and we would like to submit it to the court, if he has any doubt about it.” It is a well-settled rule that, if an appellant would take advantage of an error in the' admission of evidence, it is essential that he shall have made a proper objection below. 3 Tex. Jur. § 126, p. 188. And it is equally true that an appellant may not complain that certain evidence received was not admissible under the pleadings, if he raised no such objection in the trial court. 3 Tex. Jur. § 180, p. 194, and authorities cited. Therefore the objection here presented, not having been called to the attention of the trial court, cannot be considered here.

The court’s action, in permitting appellee’s witness', Wright, to testify as to the average wages of rig builders in Upton and neighboring counties, is made the basis of the third assignment and appellant’s fourth proposition.

The witness testified:

“Q. Are you familiar with the wages ordinarily paid other rig builders, or rig builders working at repairs in Upton County and in neighboring counties, familiar with what was paid them for that class of work during the year March 6, 1932, until March 6, 1933? A. Tes, sir.
“Q. What was the average wage?"

After an objection was interposed by appellant’s counsel, he interrogated the witness thus:

“Q. Mr. Wright, do you know any rig builder that worked as many as 30.) days during the year beginning March 6, 1932, and ending March 6, 1933? A. Do I know any?
“Q. Yes, in this locality? A. Not in that year.
“Q. In fact, there were not any working that much, were there, Mr. Wright? A.

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Related

Texas Coca-Cola Bottling Co. v. Lovejoy
138 S.W.2d 254 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1940)
Traders & General Insurance v. Bulis
104 S.W.2d 488 (Texas Supreme Court, 1937)

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75 S.W.2d 965, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/traders-general-ins-co-v-bulis-texapp-1934.