Traders & General Ins. Co. v. Rooth

• Decision Date: 20 May 1954
• Docket Number: No. 3170,3170
• Citation: 268 S.W.2d 539
• Parties: TRADERS & GENERAL INC. CO. v. ROOTH.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 539

268 S.W.2d 539

TRADERS & GENERAL INC. CO. v. ROOTH.

No. 3170.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, Waco.

May 20, 1954.

Rehearing Denied June 10, 1954.

Butler, Binion, Rice & Cook, Houston, for appellant.

Hill, Brown, Kronzer & Abraham, Houston, Wellborn & Britt, Alvin, for appellee.

McDONALD, Chief Justice.

This is a Workmen's Compensation case in which the Trial Court, upon the verdict of the jury, entered a judgment for (Plaintiff) Appellee. Appellee was employed as a driller for the R & M Well Servicing and Drilling Company. He alleged that on 21 October 1951 he suffered accidental injury to his 'head and brain and the supporting structure thereof' while performing the duties of his employer; and while bent in a position where his head was below the level of his feet, undertaking to screw a pressure gauge into a valve. While in this position, as a result of strain, he suffered a rupture of an aneurysm (a weak spot in a blood vessel) in his head near the base of the skull, thereby producing a subarachonid hemorrhage; that his injuries have resulted in total and permanent disability.

Trial was to a jury, which returned a verdict for Appellee, and upon which the Trial Court entered a judgment for Appellee for total and permanent disability benefits.

Appellant (Defendant Insurance Carrier) appeals on 4 Points but which present 3 basic contentions: 1) That there is no evidence, or there is insufficient evidence that Appellee sustained accidental injury; 2) That the Trial Court erred in its definition of 'producing cause'; 3) That there was no evidence or insufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that Appellee was totally and permanently disabled.

In connection with Appellant's 1st Point, viz.: that there is no evidence or insufficient evidence that Appellee sustained an accidental injury, Appellant contends that before Appellee can recover there 1) must be an accident and that 2) the accident must result in injury; and that there could be no accident in the case at bar since Appellee could have suffered no strain in turning the screw, greater than that caused by any of his ordinary and usual activities. Appellant contends that the aneurysm was present in Appellant from birth or for a long time and that normal activity would have and did cause it to repture-and for such reason the injury was not caused by accident and is not compensable under the Act. Appellant further contends that the onset of the injury preceded the Appellee's attempt to screw the pressure gauge.

We cannot agree with Appellant's position or contentions. The record reflects that the witnesses Nance and Hill testified that Appellee appeared to be in good health and made no complaints of headaches prior to screwing the gauge into the valve. Further, Appellee denied that he was suffering any difficulty prior to attempting to screw the gauge into the valve.

The record further reflects that Dr. Schnur and Dr. Brown both testified that the incident described by the witnesses produced and caused the hemorrhage. Dr. Fountain-Appellant's witness-testified that the onset of such a hemorrhage often occurs after physical exertion. Appellee's position with his head lower than the level of his feet, together with the effort immediately preceding the onset of the hemorrhage, were such ad to produce strain on Appellee. The fact that Appellee may have been afflicted for a long time or since birth with the aneurysm does not alter his right to recover. Compensation benefits can be awarded if the workman, as a result of job exertion, sustains hemorrhages, ruptures or heart attacks, notwithstanding the fact that predisposing factors contribute to the incapacity or death. Texas Employers Ins. Ass'n v. Smith, Tex.Civ.App., 235 S.W.2d 234; Federal Underwriters Exchange v. Polson, Tex.Civ.App., 148 S.W.2d 956, W/E Dis.; Southern Underwriters v. Hoopes, Tex.Civ.App., 120 S.W.2d 924, W/E Dis.; Carter v. Travelers Ins. Co., 132 Tex. 288, 120 S.W.2d 581.

And so it is that whatever the physical condition of the individual may be, if it is such that it requires some physical exertion or strain to cause the repture, the injury is properly classed as an accidental one. Texas Employers Ins. Ass'n v. McGrady, Tex.Civ.App., 296 S.W. 920, W/E Dis.

The jury believed from the evidence that the unusual position Appellee had assumed in his attempt to insert the gauge into the valve, as well as the difficulties he had in performing the operation, was not only unusual, but that it constituted strain and resulted in the rupture of the aneurysm, producing his incapacity. The jury had the right to so believe. The rule is that after disregarding all adverse evidence and considering the evidence most favorable to Appellee, giving it all reasonable conclusions and inferences that might be drawn therefrom, if such evidence is of sufficient probative force that reasonable minds might differ as to the ultimate conclusion to be reached, it will be held that the evidence supports the judgment. See: Hood v. Texas Indem. Ins. Co., 146 Tex. 522, 209 S.W.2d 345; Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Isensee, Tex.Civ.App., 211 S.W.2d 613, W/E Ref. N.R.E.; Associated Emp. Lloyds v. Self, Tex.Civ.App., 192 S.W.2d 902; Associated Emp. Lloyds v. Groce, Tex.Civ.App., 194 S.W.2d 103, W/E Ref. N.R.E.

We believe that the...