Kent v. Bradley

Citation480 S.W.2d 55
Decision Date26 April 1972
Docket NumberNo. 6245,6245
PartiesJ. W. KENT and Wife, Olga Kent, Individually, and a Partnership d/b/a Eagle Restaurant, Appellants, v. Darlene BRADLEY, Appellee.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas. Court of Civil Appeals of Texas

Paxson & Santiesteban, Robert E. Kennedy, Marshall I. Yaker, El Paso, for appellants.

Gade & Schwarzbach, Thor G. Gade, El Paso, for appellee.

OPINION

RAMSEY, Chief Justice.

This is a suit for actual and exemplary damages resulting from a verbal assault. Darlene Bradley, Plaintiff-Appellee, brought suit against J. W. Kent and wife, Olga Kent, Individually, and d/b/a Eagle Restaurant, a co-partnership, Defendants-Appellants. Trial was before the Court and judgment was entered for Plaintiff in the amount of $1,000.00. We affirm.

The Defendants assign only one point of error complaining that the trial Court erred in holding the Defendants liable for the acts of their employee. Defendants direct their brief and argument to the one proposition that such acts committed were not within the scope of employment of the assaulting employee whereby the employer could be held liable.

The testimony disclosed that Plaintiff was employed at the American Furniture Store. The employees where she worked purchased refreshments for their coffee breaks from the Eagle Cafe located across the street. Plaintiff was to obtain lemonades and coffee from the cafe for herself and her fellow employees. Upon receiving the check from a waitress, she noticed the price for each lemonade was ten cents higher than the week before and she did not have enough money to pay it. She questioned the check and inquired as to its correctness at the cashier's counter. The cashier took the check and walked to the back of the cafe where the kitchen was located. Thereupon, a different lady came out of the back of the cafe and without provocation, in loud insulting language, berated and verbally abused the Plaintiff creating a scene before many people and ordered the Plaintiff to leave and not to come back. Plaintiff returned to her place of work in a state of shock, humiliation and hysteria. Plaintiff's testimony was uncontroverted that she broke out with hives and was physically ill requiring medication prescribed by a medical doctor. Mrs. Eva Mallin, one of Plaintiff's co-workers, testified that she immediately went to the Eagle Cafe to inquire about the incident. She was rebuffed by a young man behind the counter who ordered her out or he would throw her out and told Mrs. Mallin that the abusive word used to describe the Plaintiff was not a bad word but only one used to describe a female dog. The Defendants at the time were out of town fishing and were not in the cafe.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law were not requested or filed. In their absence, it is presumed that the trial Court found all fact issues raised by the evidence in support of the judgment. Renfro Drug Co. et al. v. Lewis, 149 Tex. 507, 235 S.W.2d 609 (Tex.Sup.Ct.1950); Commercial Standard Insurance Company et al. v. Merit Clothing Company, 377 S.W.2d 179 (Tex.Sup.Ct.1964). With such presumption, the reviewing Court must affirm the judgment if there is any evidence of probative force to support the judgment on any theory authorized by law.

Defendants' only contention is that the employee, at...

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9 cases
  • Maimaron v. Com.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
    • 14 mai 2007
    ...goes beyond the strict line of his duty or authority and inflicts an unjustifiable injury on a third person.' Kent v. Bradley, 480 S.W.2d 55, 57 (Tex. Civ.App.1972). See Johnson v. Weinberg, 434 A.2d 404, 408 (D.C.App.1981). Where a party's state of mind or motive is in issue, summary judgm......
  • Berry v. Commerce Ins. Co.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
    • 25 octobre 2021
    ...§ 7.07 (2006). See also Pinshaw v. Metropolitan Dist. Comm'n, 402 Mass. 687, 695, 524 N.E.2d 1351 (1988), quoting Kent v. Bradley, 480 S.W.2d 55, 57 (Tex. Civ. App. 1972) ("If the act complained of was within the scope of the servant's authority, the master will be liable, although it const......
  • McIntyre ex rel. Estate of McIntyre v. U.S.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
    • 16 octobre 2008
    ...his duty or authority and inflicts an unjustifiable injury on a third person." Pinshaw, 524 N.E.2d at 1356 (quoting Kent v. Bradley, 480 S.W.2d 55, 57 (Tex. Civ.App.1972)). We also have recognized that a principal may be responsible for conduct customarily within its agent's scope of employ......
  • Zieber v. Heffelfinger, 2009 Ohio 1227 (Ohio App. 3/17/2009)
    • United States
    • Ohio Court of Appeals
    • 17 mars 2009
    ...by an employee in the course of removal of a patron. See, e.g., Stewart v. Napuche (1952), 334 Mich. 76, 53 N.W.2d 676; Kent v. Bradley (Tex.Civ.App.1972), 480 S.W.2d 55. {¶52} "However, the employer would not be liable if an employee physically assaulted a patron without provocation. As we......
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