Tribble & Stephens Co. v. Consolidated Services, Inc.

744 S.W.2d 945, 1987 WL 42593
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 16, 1987
Docket04-86-00500-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 744 S.W.2d 945 (Tribble & Stephens Co. v. Consolidated Services, Inc.) 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
Tribble & Stephens Co. v. Consolidated Services, Inc., 744 S.W.2d 945, 1987 WL 42593 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

DIAL, Justice.

This is a suit under a construction contract.

Appellee, Consolidated Services, Inc., is an electrical subcontractor and was awarded the contract to perform electrical work on the building of a Target store in San Antonio. Appellants, Tribble & Stephens Company and the Dayton-Hudson Corp., general contractor, oversaw and organized the work to be done on the project by the various subcontractors. Bob Law, the foreman for Tribble & Stephens Company, fired Consolidated Services, Inc. from the job and hired Collier Electric to complete the electrical work. Consolidated Services, Inc. brought suit against the general contractor and Dayton-Hudson Corp., the owner of the Target store, alleging wrongful termination of the contract and conversion of materials and tools.

Appellants appeal the judgment of the trial court which awarded appellee $70,-054.00 actual damages for breach of contract, $1,470.00 damages for conversion, $25,000.00 exemplary damages, foreclosure of its mechanic’s and materialman’s lien, attorneys fees, and pre- and post-judgment interest. Appellants contend there is no evidence or insufficient evidence to support the jury’s findings of a conversion, $1,470.00 damages for conversion, malice (and the award of exemplary damages), breach of contract, and $70,054.00 damages under the contract; that there is no evidence or insufficient evidence and no special issues or findings to support the trial court’s judgment of foreclosure of the mechanic’s and materialman’s lien; and that the jury findings of a conversion and the amount of $1,470.00 as damages irreconcilably conflict.

Appellee urges us not to consider several of appellants’ points of error because they are multifarious. We do not find them to be so.

In order to present a “no evidence” point on appeal, the complaining party must have brought the complaint to the attention of the trial court. He can do this by one of five ways:

(1) file a motion for instructed verdict;

(2) object to the submission of a vital fact issue;

(3) file a motion for judgment non ob-stante veredicto;

(4) file a motion to disregard the jury’s answer to a vital fact issue; or

(5) file a motion for new trial specifically raising the complaint. Aero Energy, Inc. v. Circle C. Drilling Co., 699 S.W.2d 821, 822 (Tex.1985).

A complaint in a motion for new trial that the jury’s answers to specific special issues are “contrary to the great weight and overwhelming preponderance of the evidence, and in any event, as a matter of law, plaintiff is entitled to a new trial” is sufficient to support a factual insufficiency claim. Cavitt v. Jetton’s Greenway Plaza Cafeteria, 563 S.W.2d 319, 321 (Tex.Civ.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1978, no writ).

When appellant points out that the evidence can show only one state of facts, the complaint is a no evidence point, as is a complaint that the findings are not supported by any legal, competent evidence. Soto v. Doehne, 625 S.W.2d 60, 62 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1981, no writ). Legal sufficiency of the evidence is raised by complaints that the evidence “clearly showed” a state of facts or “compels” a certain finding or conclusion, La Sara Grain Co. v. First National Bank of Mercedes, 673 S.W.2d 558, 568 (Tex.1984); Holley v. Watts, 629 S.W.2d 694, 696 (Tex.1982), that the “undisputed” evidence establishes the existence of a fact, Royal *948 Indemnity Co. v. Hume, 477 S.W.2d 683, 687 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio 1972, no writ), or that certain findings are without any support in the evidence and are against the uncontradicted testimony, Spurlock v. Burnette, 365 S.W.2d 812, 814 (Tex.Civ.App.-Austin 1963, no writ).

In studying the substance of each complaint raised in the motion for new trial, we find appellants did make the trial court aware of their complaint that the evidence was both factually and legally insufficient to support the jury findings. 1

On review of a legal insufficiency point of error we consider only that evidence and the reasonable inferences that can be drawn therefrom, in their most favorable light, to support the jury’s findings while disregarding all others. McKnight v. Hill & Hill Exterminators, Inc., 689 S.W.2d 206, 207 (Tex.1985); Glover v. Texas General Indemnity Co., 619 S.W.2d 400, 401 (Tex.1981).

In determining the factual sufficiency of the evidence we must consider and weigh all the evidence, set aside the judgment, and order a new trial if the verdict is so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly wrong and unjust. Dyson v. Olin Corp., 692 S.W.2d 456, 457 (Tex.1985); In re King’s Estate, 150 Tex. 662, 244 S.W.2d 660, 661 (1951).

BREACH OF CONTRACT

The testimony presented by the parties was conflicting as to whether Consolidated Services, Inc. attended progress meetings held by Tribble & Stephens Company with the subcontractors or was aware of any scheduled completion date or project schedule, whether extras completed by Consolidated Services, Inc. were authorized orally (though the contract required written changes only), whether Consolidated Services, Inc. was prevented from timely completing its work due to poor job coordination on behalf of Tribble & Stephens Company, whether Consolidated Services, Inc. had a sufficient number of workers on the job, and how much work Consolidated Services, Inc. actually completed before it was removed from the job. Evidence was produced supporting each side of these issues.

Evidence was presented which, if believed, tended to show that Consolidated Services, Inc. was prevented from timely completing its work due to a lack of materials to be provided by Target and a lack of adequate job coordination by Tribble & Stephens Company. Specific examples of these are seen in the testimony by the Wades (appellees) that pig tails (electrical connections) were too short and Consolidated Services, Inc. had to move junction boxes to accommodate the shorter tails, that the kitchen equipment to be supplied by Target did not arrive timely so that Consolidated Services, Inc. could wire the area, that the original plans given Consolidated Services, Inc. deviated from subsequent plans specifying the location of the cash *949

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
744 S.W.2d 945, 1987 WL 42593, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tribble-stephens-co-v-consolidated-services-inc-texapp-1987.