Thompson v. Ft. Worth & R. G. Ry. Co.

• Decision Date: 19 May 1904
• Parties: THOMPSON v. FT. WORTH & R. G. RY. CO.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

80 S.W. 990

THOMPSON v. FT. WORTH & R. G. RY. CO.

Supreme Court of Texas.

May 19, 1904.

Certified Questions from Court of Civil Appeals of Third Supreme Judicial District.

Action by Mrs. N. O. Thompson against the Ft. Worth & Rio Grande Railway Company. From a judgment for defendant, plaintiff appealed to the Court of Civil Appeals, which certified questions to the Supreme Court. Questions answered.

See 73 S. W. 29.

Arch Grinnan, for appellant. West, Chapman & West, for appellee.

BROWN, J.

Certified question from the Court of Civil Appeals of the Third District, as follows:

"The appellant instituted this suit for the benefit of herself and children, seeking to recover damages on account of the death of her husband, R. K. Thompson, and for personal injuries received by said Thompson. She alleged that while a passenger on one of defendant's trains he sustained certain injuries, caused by the negligence of the defendant's employés, which injuries thereafter caused his death. Among other matters, the defendant pleaded in bar a settlement with R. K. Thompson, and a release executed by him. The trial court submitted the case to the jury upon special issues, and the verdict, which is supported by testimony, establishes the following facts pertinent to the question certified:

"(1) That while R. K. Thompson was a passenger on the defendant's road he was injured as alleged; that the defendant was guilty of negligence which caused his injuries, and Thompson was not guilty of contributory negligence; and that as a result of his death, which was caused by the injuries referred to, the plaintiffs have sustained pecuniary loss in the sum of $2,160.

"(2) That after R. K. Thompson was injured, and after he had brought suit against the defendant to recover damages on account of such injuries, and before he died as a result thereof, he made a settlement with the defendant, by which the defendant paid him the sum of $1,200 in satisfaction of his demand, and in consideration of which he executed to the defendant a release, which reads as follows: `State of Texas, Tarrant County: Know all men by these presents: That for and in consideration of Forty Dollars to me in hand paid, and the payment of Six Hundred Dollars on March 16th, 1899, and Five Hundred and Sixty Dollars on April 14th, 1899, I hereby release and disclaim any claim I may, might or could have against the Ft. Worth & Rio Grande Railway Company and its assigns, on account of injuries sustained by me while a passenger on one of its freight trains near Stephenville, on Dec. 26th, 1898, at which time I was thrown against the caboose door and hurt in the head, back and side, and resulting in serious internal and other injuries to me, which resulted in my confinement in bed from about that date to the present time. The payment of the above sum to be in full satisfaction of all my injuries, past, present and future on account of said accident, this March 6th, 1899. [Signed] R. K. Thompson. Witness: N. H. Lassiter, N. O. Thompson.'

"On the special findings of the jury as stated above, the court rendered judgment for the defendant, and Mrs. Thompson has appealed, and by proper assignments contends that on the facts established by the verdict she was entitled to a judgment for $2,160.

"The controlling question in the case is this: Are Mrs. Thompson and the children of R. K. Thompson, who are plaintiffs in this suit, concluded by the action of R. K. Thompson in settling with the defendant and executing the release above set out?

"We have found no analogous case in this state, and find considerable conflict in the decisions of other states on the point; and for that reason the question, as stated above, is hereby certified to the Supreme Court for decision."

We answer that the release executed by Thompson constituted a bar to the action of appellants for his death. The right of the appellant to maintain this action depends upon the construction of the following articles of our Revised Statutes of 1895:

"Art. 3017. An action for actual damages on account of injuries causing the death of any person may be brought in the following cases: (1) When the death of any person is caused by the negligence or carelessness of the proprietor, owner, * * * of any railroad, * * * or by the unfitness, negligence or carelessness of their servants or agents; when the death of any person is caused by the negligence or carelessness of the receiver or receivers or other person or persons in charge or control of any railroad, their servants or agents, and the liability of receivers shall extend to cases in which the death may be caused by reason of the bad or unsafe condition of the railroad or machinery or other reason or cause by which an action may be brought for damages on account of injuries, the same as if said railroad were being...