Western Alliance Insurance Co. v. Jecker

371 S.W.2d 904, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 1755
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided October 23, 1963·No. No. 5516·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

CLAYTON, Justice.

The original opinion of this court in the above-styled and numbered cause handed down on the 10th day of October, 1962 (362 S.W.2d 137) has been, on instructions of the Supreme Court of Texas (369 S.W.2d 776) reviewed and further considered, and the following opinion is hereby rendered to supersede the original opinion rendered herein.

OPINION

This is an appeal from a judgment of the District Court of Refugio County, Texas in which appellee was awarded benefits under the Workmen’s Compensation Act against appellant, an insurance carrier, for the death of her husband, Lawrence K. Jecker, who succumbed from injuries received in an automobile collision which occurred on September 16, 1958. Appeal was originally perfected to the Court of Civil Appeals for the Fourth Supreme Judicial District at San Antonio and was transferred to the Eighth Judicial District at El Paso by order of the Supreme Court of Texas for the purpose of equalizing the docket.

Trial in the district court was to a jury. Certain matters having been stipulated, the trial judge confined his charge to three special issues. In answer to Special Issue No. 1, the jury found that at the time of the fatal accident the deceased was in the course of his employment with Bay Chevrolet, Incorporated, an automobile and appliance business of Palacios, Texas. In answer to Special Issue No. 2 the jury found that the plaintiff would suffer manifest hardship and injury if the compensation awarded, if any, were not paid in a lump sum, and the jury further found, in answer to Special Issue No. 3, that the deceased was not “in a state of intoxication” at the time of the accident. This last-mentioned special issue was deemed by the trial court to be necessary, under the evidence, by virtue of the provision of the Texas Workmen’s Compensation Law, Article 8309, Vernon’s Ann.Tex.Civ.St., section 1: “The term ‘injury sustained in the course of employment,’ as used in this Act, shall not include * * * (3) [a]n injury received while in a state of intoxication.”

After denying a motion for judgment non obstante veredicto, the trial court entered judgment for plaintiff on the verdict, from which judgment this appeal is taken.

Appellant’s Points of Error Nos. Two and Three are directed at the jury’s finding, in answer to Special Issue No. 1, that deceased was in the course of his employment at the time of the fatal accident, asserting that there was no evidence to support such finding and that the same was so contrary to the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust and unfair.

Since these two points of error relate to the jury’s finding on Special Issue No. 1, they will be discussed first.

Inasmuch as Jecker suffered his fatal injuries while traveling on a public highway, whether he was in the course of his employment at the time is measured and limited by sections 1 and lb of Art. 8309, V.A. T.C.S. Section 1, after eliminating injuries caused under certain circumstances, provides that the term “injury sustained in the course of employment” shall “include all other injuries of every kind and character having to do with and originating in the work, business, trade or profession of the employer received by an employee while engaged in or about the furtherance of the affairs or business of his employer whether upon the employer’s premises or elsewhere.” Section lb, added in 1957, reads:

“Unless transportation is furnished as a part of the contract of employment or is paid for by the employer, or unless the means of such transportation are under the control of the employer, or unless the employee is directed in his employment to proceed from one place to another place, such transportation shall not be the basis for a claim that an injury occurring during the course, of such transportation is sus[907] tained in the course of employment. Travel by an employee in the furtherance of the affairs or business of his employer shall not be the basis for a claim that an injury occurring during the course of such travel is sustained in the course of employment, if said travel is also in furtherance of personal or private affairs of the employee, unless the trip to the place of occurrence of said injury would have been made even had there been no personal or private affairs of the employee to be furthered by said trip, and unless said trip would not have been made had there been no affairs or business of the employer to be furthered by said trip.”

Special Issue No. 1 inquired whether Jecker was in the course of his employment at the time of his fatal accident. In connection with the special issue, the court gave an instruction defining “in the course of his employment” in the language of sections 1 and lb of Article 8309 as that language relates to the facts in the case. The jury was instructed that “in the course of his employment” meant “originating in the work, business, trade or profession of Bay Chevrolet, Incorporated, and in the furtherance of its affairs or business.” The instruction then continued as follows:

“However, an employee, while travel-ling on the highway in an automobile, is not considered as being in the course of his employment unless the transportation is paid for by the employer or unless the employee is directed in his employment to proceed from one place to another place.”

Finally, the instruction advised the jury that travel in furtherance of the business of the employer could not be the basis of a claim that the death occurred in the course of employment if the travel was also in furtherance of personal or private affairs, unless the trip would have been made had there been no personal or private affairs to be furthered and unless the trip would not have been made had there been no business of the employer to be furthered.

Before the amendment in 1957 of Article 8309, V.A.T.C.S., the Supreme Court of Texas in an opinion written by the now Chief Justice, in the case of American. General Insurance Company v. Coleman, 303 S.W.2d 370, sets out the following:

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Western Alliance Insurance Co. v. Jecker, 371 S.W.2d 904, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 1755 (Tex. Ct. App. 1963).

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