Reyes-Mata v. Ibp, Inc.

Decision Date22 July 2002
Docket NumberNo. 01-11118.,01-11118.
Citation299 F.3d 504
PartiesCarlos H. REYES-MATA, Plaintiff-Counter Defendant-Appellee, v. IBP, INC., Defendant-Counter Claimant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Channy Ferris Wood (argued), James H. Wood, The Wood Law Firm, Amarillo, Tx, for Plaintiff-Counter Defendant-Appellee.

Kelly D. Utsinger (argued), Grant Olliver Adams, Underwood, Wilson, Berry, Stein & Johnson, Amarillo, TX, for Defendant-Counter Claimant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Before DAVIS, DeMOSS and STEWART, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Carlos Reyes-Mata was injured when a beef carcass and shackle fell from a gravity rail conveyor system and struck him in the head. The injury occurred while Reyes-Mata was working at a beef processing facility in Amarillo, Texas. He sued his employer IBP, Inc. in federal district court for common-law negligence and statutory negligence. A jury awarded Reyes-Mata a total of $110,912 in damages and the district court entered judgment for Reyes-Mata and awarded pre-judgment interest on the entire verdict in the amount of $24,707.07. IBP now appeals claiming that the jury charge was erroneous and that the district court erred by allowing prejudgment interest.

The jury charge submitted states, in relevant part:

"Negligence" means failure to use ordinary care to provide a safe workplace and to reduce or eliminate an unreasonable risk of harm created by the condition or use of a workplace equipment or procedures, that is, by failing to do that which an employer of ordinary prudence would have done under the same or similar circumstances. "Ordinary care" means that degree of care that would be used by an employer of ordinary prudence under the same or similar circumstances.

The mere occurrence of an event causing injury is not evidence of negligence. An occurrence may be an "unavoidable accident," that is, an event not proximately caused by the negligence of any party to it.

While an employer is not the insurer of its employees' safety at work, an employer does have a continuing and nondelegable duty to use ordinary care in providing a safe workplace for its employees. Under this duty, each employer shall:

1) provide and maintain employment and a place of employment that is reasonably safe and healthful for employees;

2) install, maintain, and use methods, processes, devices, and safeguards, including methods of sanitation and hygiene, that are reasonably necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of the employer's employees; and

3) take all other actions that are reasonably necessary to make the employment and place of employment safe.

You are instructed that while an employer has a duty to warn employees of known dangers and to make reasonable inspections to see that workplace equipment does not become defective, an employer cannot be held liable for latent defects in the workplace, that is, defects that are not known by an employer and could not be revealed by the exercise of ordinary care.

You are instructed that the Plaintiff must show more than that the Defendant merely furnished a condition in the workplace that made the injury possible. That is, Plaintiff must show that the Defendant in furnishing the condition failed to do that which an employer of ordinary prudence would have done under the same or similar circumstances, or did that which an employer of ordinary prudence would not have done under the same or similar circumstances.

IBP proffered to the district court what it believed to be a correct instruction for premises liability only. The district court overruled IBP's objection and submitted its jury charge. The jury returned a verdict for Reyes-Mata for $5,000 for physical pain and mental anguish, $912 for loss of earning capacity, $5,000 for physical and mental impairment and $100,000 for future medical expenses. The district court entered judgment against IBP for $110,912 and also awarded $24,707.07 in prejudgment interest.

This Court recognizes that the district court has broad discretion in formulating the jury charge, and, therefore, reviews those instructions with great deference. Deines v. Texas Dep't of Protective & Regulatory Servs., 164 F.3d 277, 279 (5th Cir.1999). A challenge to a jury instruction "must demonstrate that the charge as a whole creates substantial and ineradicable doubt whether the jury has been properly guided in its deliberations." Mooney v. Aramco Servs., Inc., 54 F.3d 1207, 1216 (5th Cir.1995). "However, even erroneous jury instructions will not require reversal if based upon the entire record the challenged instruction could not have affected the outcome of the case." Deines, 164 F.3d at 279.

IBP claims that the jury instruction is erroneous because it is not limited to a premises liability claim. The Texas Supreme Court has stated that to recover on a negligent activity theory, the injured party must have been injured by or as a contemporaneous result of the activity itself rather than by a condition created by the activity. Keetch v. Kroger Co., 845 S.W.2d 262, 264 (Tex.1992). That court refused, however, to eliminate all distinctions between premises conditions and negligent activities. Id. Indeed, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Bazan, 966 S.W.2d 745 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1998, no pet.), the court stated that liability for an injury on business premises can be found under either a premises condition theory or a negligent activity theory. Id. at 746. Also, in Texas, trial courts are given deference in their decisions as to what charge the jury receives. Wyler Indus. Works, Inc. v. Garcia, 999 S.W.2d 494, 510-11 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1999, no. pet.). After reviewing the record, we find that the district court in the present case did not err in formulating the jury instructions and we therefore give deference to its decision.

This Court reviews a district court's award of prejudgment interest for an abuse of discretion. Harken Exploration Co. v. Sphere Drake Ins. PLC, 261 F.3d 466, 478 (5th Cir.2001). Under § 304.102 of the Texas Finance Code, "A judgment in a wrongful death, personal injury, or property damage case earns prejudgment interest." The Texas Supreme Court has held that this provision entitles a plaintiff to prejudgment interest on its entire judgment including future damages because the statute makes no distinction between...

To continue reading

Request your trial
19 cases
  • American Nat. Fire Ins. v. Yellow Freight Systems
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
    • 10 Abril 2003
    ...See City of Milwaukee v. Cement Div. Nat'l Gypsum Co., 515 U.S. 189, 195, 115 S.Ct. 2091, 132 L.Ed.2d 148 (1995); Reyes-Mata v. IBP, Inc., 299 F.3d 504, 508 (5th Cir.2002). Consequently, prejudgment interest typically accrues from the date of the loss or from the date on which the claim acc......
  • Entergy Arkansas, Inc. v. Nebraska
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • 18 Febrero 2004
    ...[Nebraska site venture] not been [undertaken]." Id. § 344(b) (describing reliance damages). 26. Nebraska also cites Reyes-Mata v. IBP, Inc., 299 F.3d 504 (5th Cir.2002), and Castrignano v. E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc., 900 F.2d 455 (1st Cir.1990), in support of its position, but those cases are......
  • Osborn v. Griffin
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit
    • 28 Julio 2017
    ...States , 315 F.3d 1332, 1334 (Fed. Cir. 2003) (upholding prejudgment interest award under rational basis review); Reyes–Mata v. IBP, Inc. , 299 F.3d 504, 508 (5th Cir. 2002) (same); S.E.C. v. Lauer , 610 Fed.Appx. 813, 820 (11th Cir. 2015) ("The award of prejudgment interest has nothing to ......
  • Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. v. Cowin (In re Cowin)
    • United States
    • U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of Texas
    • 25 Abril 2013
    ...the position he would have been in had he had his trial and recovered his judgment immediately after his injury.” Reyes–Mata v. IBP, Inc., 299 F.3d 504, 507 (5th Cir.2002). Here, the Debtor's actions have wrongfully deprived the Plaintiffs of the use of $276,489.00 since those funds were ta......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT