United States Casualty Co. v. Hampton

293 S.W. 260, 1927 Tex. App. LEXIS 88
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 23, 1927
DocketNo. 3362.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 293 S.W. 260 (United States Casualty Co. v. Hampton) 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
United States Casualty Co. v. Hampton, 293 S.W. 260, 1927 Tex. App. LEXIS 88 (Tex. Ct. App. 1927).

Opinion

LEVY, J.

(after stating the facts as above). The appellant urges that the award is erroneous and without authority of law, for the reason that the evidence failed to show the injury in suit arose out of and in the course of his employment, within the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Rev. St. 1925, arts. 8306-8309). It .is believed the contention should be overruled. The full fact was shown that the appellee, as employee, received a grievous injury to his finger in suppressing a serious affray between two coem-ployees over the recommendation for discharge of one of them. The appellee was in nowise a party to the quarrel or the fight, and the injury he received was not inflicted intentionally or “because of reasons personal to him.” Sole blame for the injury could not be imputed to the appellee. Death caused by knife wounds might have resulted to one of the combatants. The law has so great a regard for human life that it will not impute blameable fault to an effort to preserve it, unless, in the judgment of prudent persons, the effort be done in rashness. Therefore the injury to appellee, could be regarded as an accident. The occurrence was wholly upon the premises of the employer. As appears, it occurred “in the engine room,” at a time, within regular working hours, “while the men were engaged in tightening the main belt, which drove all the machinery, and which was loose and slipping to such an extent as to interfere with the proper working of the machinery, and which required tightening.” Therefore the act in itself done by appellee, of suppressing an affray between two coemployees on the premises during working hours, must be regarded either (1) as a purely moral act, or (2) as an act that might reasonably be done in the service and business of the employer, within the 'Workmen’s Compensation Act. As observed in Honnold on Workmen’s Compensation, §§ 101, 116:

“The words ‘out of’ point to the origin and cause of the accident or injury; the words ‘in course of’ to the time, place, and circumstances under which the accident or injury takes place. The chara'cter or quality of the accident as conveyed by the words ‘out of’ involves the idea that the accident is in some sense due to the employment. It must result from a risk reasonably incident to the employment.”

The test is, Did the injury “have to do with and originate in the business of the employer”? Cassell v. U. S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 115 Tex. 371, 283 S. W. 127, 46 A. L. R. 1137. Pranks of employees, as set out in that ease, is illustrative of acts included in the test. The general rule is laid down in the case of Durham v. Brown Bros., 36 Scot. D. R. 190, as quoted in Ass’n Employers’ Reciprocal v. State Industrial Commission, 82 Okl. 229, 200 P. 174:

“A servant does not cease to be in the course of his employment merely because he is not actually engaged in doing what is specially prescribed to him, if in the course of his employment an emergency arises, and, without deserting Ms employment, he does what he thinks necessary for the purpose of advancing the work in’ which he is engaged in the interest of his employer.”

Extinguishing fire, the issue in that case, and similar acts of preservation of property, are not the limit of the rule. As stated in Cooperage Co. v. Industrial Commission, 285 Ill. 31, 120 N. E. 530:

“There must be some causal relation between the employment and the injury. * * * No fixed rule to determine what is a risk of the employment has been established. Where men are working together at the same work disagreements may be expected to arise about the .work, the manner of doing it, as to the use of tools, interference with one another, and many other details which may be trifling or important. Infirmity of temper, or worse, may be expected, and occasionally blows and fighting. Where the disagreement arises out of the employer’s work in which two men are engaged, and as a result of it one injures the other, it may be inferred that the injury arose out of the employment. * * * * The dispute was concerning the employer’s work in which the men were both engaged, and there is evidence tending to show that the claimant was not responsible for the assault.”

*263 The following cases are illustrative of an injury within the rule (an injury from an assault) : McClure v. Georgia Casualty Co. (Tex. Com. App.) 251 S. W. 801; Cooperage Co. v. Industrial Commission, 285 Ill. 31, 120 N. E. 530; In re McNicol, 215 Mass. 497, 102 N. E. 697, L. R. A. 1916A, 306; Weekes v. William Stead, Limited, 6 N. C. C. A. 1010; Willis v. Mining Co., 58 Mont. 26, 190 P. 124. As appears in the present case, a causal relation was established between the injury and the employment, and the appellee did what he might reasonably do under his employment. The disagreement and the affray arose out of the employment; namely, the recommendation of discharge of June Miller. Wesley Brown and June Miller were the two fighters. The agreed facts of origin of the difficulty are:

“While the men were engaged in tightening the belt, the subforeman, Wesley Brown, went up to L. M. Blackburn, the foreman, and requested him to give June'Miller his time, meaning to discharge him, and stated as his reason for such that ‘June fights.’ On hearing this statement to Blackburn, Miller straightened up from where he was leaning over pulling on the belt and made some remark to Brown. Brown jumped at Miller, and slipped his knife out, and, reaching over Miller’s shoulder, cut him in the hack. They then clinched and fell. Hence Hampton caught Wesley Brown’s hand in which he held the knife, and attempted to separate them, and in so doing got cut on his right hand.”

The affray had an effect on the services due from all the employees. It was proven that “when the fight started most of the employees quit pulling on the rope. * * * The fight was delaying the work.” Further, it is a significant fact in the present case that Wesley Brown was a “subforeman” of the employer, attacking his coemployee with a deadly weapon while such coemployee was at work. Yerbal provocation did not legally justify such attack, and as well such conduct of the subforeman was in violation of his duties to his employer. The circumstances and the relation of the parties would justify and authorize the employer himself, as an implied obligation to afford protection to the assaulted employee, to intervene and suppress the affray by reasonable means. The right of the master exists to interfere and protect his servant’s person and interests. I Blaekstone Com. 429, 480; 1 Labatt on Master and Servant, § 239, and notes. A servant may likewise do, in virtue of his employment, in his master’s interest. As analogous, injuries received by one employee while trying to rescue from danger another employee of a common employer arose out of his employment. Dragovich v. Iron Co., 269 Ill. 478, 109 N. E. 999; Assur. Corp. v. Evans (Tex. Civ. App.) 201 S. W. 705; Waters v. Taylor, 218 N. Y. 248, 112 N. E. 727, L. R. A. 1917A, 347. The ruling is based on the proposition that it would be the duty of the employer himself' to attempt to rescue the injured employee, and therefor the attempt of the employee who came to the latter’s rescue was performed in the interest.of and for the benefit of his employer. Therefore the ap-pellee, in suppressing the affray, could be regarded as having done an act that he might reasonably do under his employment in the interest of his employer, proximately causing accidental injury to him.

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

Related

Martin v. Martin
797 S.W.2d 347 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)
TEXAS EMPLOYERS'INSURANCE ASSOCIATION v. Thomas
415 S.W.2d 18 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1967)
United States Casualty Company v. Henry
367 S.W.2d 405 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1963)
Fry v. Tucker
202 S.W.2d 218 (Texas Supreme Court, 1947)
Kaiser Co. v. Industrial Accident Commission
150 P.2d 562 (California Court of Appeal, 1944)
Gallaher v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.
77 S.W.2d 312 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1934)
Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. v. Frye
55 S.W.2d 1092 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1932)
Ætna Life Ins. v. Windham
53 F.2d 984 (Fifth Circuit, 1931)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
293 S.W. 260, 1927 Tex. App. LEXIS 88, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-casualty-co-v-hampton-texapp-1927.