Burt v. Lochausen
Burt v. Lochausen
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The pertinent facts necessary to an understanding of this cause may be stated as follows:
Lochausen, who was an insurance agent and associate manager of The Life Insurance Company of Virginia, prior to March 6, 1950, had taken the application of Richard Burt for $25,000 insurance in the Insurance Company. Burt lived about fourteen miles west of El Paso on his farm, and came in on the morning of March 6, 1950, to be examined for the insurance by the Company medical examiner. He first went to Lochausen’s office and met Lochausen at the elevator. They went together to the doctor’s office and Burt was examined, which examination was concluded about noontime. Lochausen and Burt went immediately to Juarez, Mexico, for lunch and refreshment. Burt, Lochausen and a friend, who joined them at the Central Cafe in Juarez, rolled dice to see who should pay for the drinks and meal, and Lochausen was “stuck” and paid for the lunch. Burt had come to the City in his own car and his wife in hers. Mrs. Burt left her car at a motor company to be serviced and, by prior arrangement, was to meet her husband at the Popular Dry Goods Company in El Paso, Texas, at 1 P. M. and return home with him in his car. While in Juarez, Burt recalled his appointment with his wife and borrowed Lochausen’s car and came to El Paso and met Mrs. Burt and told her he had a way to get home and she could go on in his car. Burt returned to Juarez.
At the conclusion of the Juarez lunch, and at about 2:30 to 3:00 P. M., Lochausen and Burt made a trip down the El Paso
The unfortunate and tragic accident in which Burt lost his life occurred about 7:00 P. M., March 6th, on Highway 80-A just west of the city limits. At the point where the accident occurred, and at all points in the immediate vicinity, the highway is a four-lane highway with a double stripe and buttons marking the center. We will recite such testimony as may be needed in connection with our discussion of the legal points discussed in this opinion.
Petitioner filed ¡suit in one of the district courts in El Paso County, Texas, against respondents, Lochausen and the Insurance Company for damages suffered by virtue of the death of her husband in the unfortunate accident, alleging Lochausen to be the owner and driver of the car when the accident occurred. She further alleged that the injuries and death of her husband were caused by the gross negligence, heedless and reckless disregard of the rights and safety of others on the part of Lochausen (joining the Insurance Company as a party defendant on the theory that Lochausen was the agent of the Insurance Company and engaged in the course of his agency and employment at the time of the accident) as follows: (a) that Louchausen drove and operated his car at a great, excessive and reckless rate of speed; (b) at a speed in excess of 60 miles per hour contrary to law; (c) that he overtook and passed a truck proceeding in the same direction on a left hand curve; (d) that he overtook and passed a truck proceeding in the same direction and drove to the left of the center of the highway at a time when the left side of the center was not free from traffic, etc., contrary to law; (e) that he so operated his car as to fail to keep and maintain same under a proper degree of control and management in driving said car off of said highway; (f) that he failed to keep the proper lookout
At the close of the testimony and after all parties had rested the respondents, Lochausen and Insurance Company, each, filed separate motions for an instructed verdict upon the grounds sustained by the trial court in granting these respondents’ motion for a judgment non obstante veredicto.
The trial court, in special issues, submitted all the alleged grounds of negligence save (d) to the jury, upon each of which the jury returned favorable answers for plaintiff and in response to appropriate issues found each such claimed acts to be ordinary negligence and also gross negligence and a proximate cause of the accident and injuries. Each of the defendants timely filed motions to disregard the verdict and render judgment in their favor notwithstanding the verdict. The court heard the motions and arguments thereon and sustained them and rendered judgment that plaintiff take nothing. The motions were predicated primarily on the grounds that the evidence established, as a matter of law, that Burt was the guest of Lochausen at the time of the accident and that Lochausen was not guilty of gross negligence. Plaintiff’s points on the appeal, save one, challenge these grounds and the action of the court in rendering the judgment in response to the motions.
Petitioner appealed to the Court of Civil Appeals at El Paso, Texas, which court, by its majority opinion, discussed only the question of the correctness of the “non obstante” judgment as based upon (a) that Burt, as a matter of law, was a “guest” of defendant Lochausen at the time of the accident, and not a “passenger” within the meaning of our “Guest Statute” (Art. 6701b, V. A. C. S.) ; and (b) that Lochausen was, as a matter of law, not guilty of gross negligence on the occasion in question. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the action of the trial court as to both of the above particulars, and affirmed the judgment rendered. Justice McGill, in his dissenting opinion, agreed that Burt was Lochausen’s guest at the time of the accident, but he took the position there was evidence to support the jury’s verdict that Lochausen was guilty of gross negligence. He agreed with the majority opinion that the Insurance Company was not liable, and he would have affirmed the trial court’s judgment in favor of the Insurance Company. 244 S.W. 2d 915.
1 We agree with both courts below that there is no liability on
The contract of Lochausen with The Life Insurance Company of Virginia, as shown by an exhibit to the Statement of Facts, provides, among other things, that Lochausen is appointed as agent in the El Paso territory “for the purpose of procuring applications for insurance in the said The Life Insurance Company of Virginia, and for the purpose of collecting and paying over premiums to the Company on such insurance when effected, and of performing such other duties in connection therewith as may be required by said Company,” and “3. The Agent shall be governed in the business of his Agency by the written and printed instructions and rules which he may from time to time receive from the Company * * *.” The contract appointing Lochausen as associate manager of the El Paso territory was signed by Lochausen and Malcolm H. Webb, Jr., as manager and appoints Lochausen as “his agent (to be known as Associate Manager) for the purpose of supervising and training agents appointed in El Paso, Texas, and Territory in the State of Texas and Territory, the collection of premiums and carrying out of such other duties, responsibilities and instructions as may be placed upon the Party of the Second Part (Lochausen) by the Party of the First Part (Webb).” The Insurance Company consented to the appointment by appropriate wording at the bottom of the contract and the signature of an assistant vice-president. There is no evidence that the Insurance Company exercised any control over Lochausen except as to “the contractual features of his employment, and to the attainment of ultimate results, and not to ‘physical details as to the manner of performance’ of his movements while soliciting, collecting, attending meetings, etc.,” as is said by this court in the Denke case (loc. cit., 128 Texas 235, 955 S. W. 2d, p. 373 2nd col. In the Denke case, Saunders ran his car into Denke and Shepherd while he (Saunders) was driving across the City of Galveston for the express purpose of soliciting insurance. In that case it is said “the decisive question is, had the defendant (Insurance Company) the right to control in the given particular, the conduct of the person doing the wrong,” (loc. cit., 128 Texas 236, 95 S. W. 2d 373, top 2nd col. Also, “In our opinion while there are numerous provisions in the contract which indicate control over Saunders, yet we think the control evidenced by such pro
An examination of Shephard’s Southwestern Reporter Citations shows that not only has the Denke case never been overruled or questioned in Texas, but it has been cited numerous times on this point, and in addition, also has been cited in cases in fourteen jurisdictions other than Texas. It thoroughly discusses, analyzes and quotes from various authorities, and reverses and renders for the Insurance Company judgment of the trial court for plaintiffs based upon favorable answers of a jury, and which judgment had been affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals. We will not burden this opinion with further quota-ions from the case as it can easily be found and read by those interested.
2 (2) We further agree with both courts below on the ground that at the time of the accident Lochausen was not engaged in the scope of his employment with the Insurance Company. The medical examination of Burt was concluded around noon and the business of the Company with regard to Burt was concluded at that time. The act of Lochausen in taking Burt home some six or seven hours later, after the two of them had spent the afternoon in mutual pleasure and enjoyment, was not in the furtherance of the particular business of the Insurance Company, but only a friendly and neighborly act on the part of Lochausen, performed at the request of Burt. Burt had a way home with his wife at 1:00 P. M., but he preferred to continue his own devices until later, and requested Lochausen to take him (Burt) home, which Lochausen agreed to do, for the mutual enjoyment of both. There could be no liability on the Insurance Company in any event, unless the accident happened while Lochausen was in the furtherance of the Insurance Company’s business. This is an elementary statement of the law and we will not cite numerous authorities to support it. 2 Am. Jur. 279, Agency, Sec.
Petitioner cites the Texas case of Fidelity Union Life Ins. Co. v. McGinnis et al, Tex. Civ. App., 62 S.W. 2d 186, no writ history, as authority for her proposition that Lochausen was a servant of the Insurance Company and within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident. That cause has no writ history and it is noticed that it has not been cited by our courts since the Denke case, supra. Also, we feel that this court had reference to the McGinnis case, and those other cases by Courts of Civil Appeals holding along the same line, when in the Denke case we said: “While there are decisions to the contrary, including one or more by the Courts of Civil Appeals of our state, yet the overwhelming weight of all recent decisions supports the foregoing statement”; i.e., there was no liability on the part of the Insurance Company.
Petitioner also cites the case of Kennedy et al v. American Nat. Ins. Co., 130 Texas 155, 107 S.W. 2d 364, 111 A. L. R. 916, as sustaining her contention. In that case there was no question but that A. L. Wilson, the tort feasor, was the servant of the insurance company. He worked out of the home office as an agency inspector, traveling in his own car from town to town where the company had agencies. The question there was whether or not this servant of the company had the authority to use his own car in his work so as to render the insurance company liable for injuries inflicted by Wilson on others, while Wilson was driving from one town to another in the discharge of his duties. A judgment for the plaintiff against the insurance company had been reversed and rendered by the Court of Civil Appeals, and this court reversed and remanded the cause for a new trial in order for the controlling issues set out in the opinion to be determined upon another trial.
3 We agree with the unanimous opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals, that Burt was the guest of Lochausen on the occasion in question, and was not a mere passenger in Lochausen’s car, as is expressed by the court’s majority opinion, as follows:
“The rule established by the authorities everywhere seems to be, to remove a case from the provisions of such statutes a definite relationship must be established and a definite tangible benefit to the operator shown to have been the motivating influence for furnishing the transportation. The rule is firmly
See also Rowan v. Allen, 134 Texas 215, 134 S.W. 2d 1022; Linn v. Nored, Tex. Civ. App., 133 S.W. 2d 234, dismissed, correct judgment; Tex. Jur. 10 Year Supp., Vol. 2, p 264, Automobiles, Sec. 309, et seq.
4 Since Burt was the guest of Lochausen at the time of the accident, there can be no liability upon Lochausen for the accident (Art. 6701b, V. A. C. S., 1925) “unless such accident shall have been intentional on the part of said owner or operator (of the automobile) or caused by his heedlessness or his reckless disregard of the rights of others.” There being no pleadings or evidence that the occurrence was intentional on the part of Lochausen, his liability must rest upon his actions and conduct at the time amounting to “gross negligence.” The latter part of the above quotation from the statute has been held to mean “gross negligence”. Rowan v. Allen, supra, Rogers v. Blake, 150 Texas, 373, 240 S.W. 2d 1001, and cases cited in these opinions. It has been said that the decided cases in Texas leave the law as to what constitutes gross negligence and liability under our “Guest Statutes” in a hopeless state of confusion.
“Whether an automobile host’s conduct is so far negligent or wanton, reckless, or willfully improper as to render him liable to a gratuitous guest, under the prevailing standard of liability depends in every case upon the combination of circumstances present at the particular time and place. No one or two acts or omissions on the part of the host, no one or two factors from among the conditions then and there present, can be segregated and arbitrarily characterized as necessarily constituting a breach by the host of his duty. Yet typically some one particular act or omission is the central feature of every such traffic accident. It is not of itself determining, but it is still of critical significance.” Blashfield, Cyclopedia of Automobile Law and Practice, Vol. 4, Part 1, p. 393, Sec. 2324.
There are certain facts which show only momentary thought
In the case at bar there were pleadings of gross negligence and proper issues were submitted thereon and the jury returned a verdict that Lochausen was guilty of gross negligence. The trial court disregarded and set aside the answers of the jury finding gross negligence and rendered judgment for the defendants, based in part upon the theory that the facts proven, as a matter of law, did not show that Lochausen was guilty of gross negligence. In reviewing this action of the trial court in its affirmance by the Court of Civil Appeals we must consider all the testimony in the record from the standpoint most favorable to the plaintiff. McAfee et al v. Travis Gas Corporation et al, 137 Texas 314, 153 S.W. 2d 442.
5 Also, to sustain the action of the trial court in granting judgment non obstante veredicto, it must be determined that there is no evidence having probative force upon which the jury could have made the findings relied upon. Whiteman v. Harris et al, Tex. Civ. App., 123 S.W. 2d 699, writ refused; Warren et al v. Schawe, Tex. Civ. App., 163 S.W. 2d 415, writ refused.
“It was the jury’s province to weigh all of the evidence, to decide what credence should be given to the whole or to any part of the testimony of each witness. ‘The jury were the judges not only of the facts proved, but also of the inferences to be drawn therefrom, provided such inferences were not unreasonable.’ Stephenville, N. & S. T. Ry. Co. v. Shelton, Tex. Com. App., 208 S. W. 915, 916.” Lockley v. Page, 142 Texas 594, 180 S. W. 2d 616, (1-3) ; also 53 Am. Jur. 143, et seq., Trial, Secs. 158 and 159.
6 We have carefully read over the Statement of Facts and viewed the exhibits and feel that there is evidence, viewed most favorably from the standpoint of the plaintiff, to support the jury’s findings. From plaintiff’s viewpoint the evidence shows that defendant Lochausen was driving his car after dark at a high and excessive rate of speed of 70-75 miles per hour immedi
This is not a case of excessive speed alone having caused the accident, and thus being a case of ordinary negligence, but from all the facts and circumstances of this case, as shown by the evidence, we think the jury had a right to find the defendant, Lochausen, guilty of gross negligence. Therefore, the trial court was in error in granting Lochausen’s motion for judgr ment non obstante veredicto, and the Court of Civil Appeals in error in affirming such action.
Associate Justice Wilson concurs in the result.
Associate Justices Garwood and Calvert dissenting.
Opinion delivered May 21, 1952.
Rehearing overruled June 18, 1952.
Dissenting Opinion
joined by Justice Calvert, dissenting.
In Rogers v. Blake, 150 Texas 373, 240 S.W. 2d 1001, over the dissent of Justice Clyde Smith and myself, gross negligence was held as a matter of law not to exist where at nighttime the defendant driver deliberately and with foreknowledge of a stop sign guarding a city traffic artery, crossed that artery without stopping, at a speed which the jury could reasonably have found excessive under the circumstances and in the face of an automobile approaching at right angles to him, which the jury could reasonably have concluded the defendant either saw or should have seen. The defendant had no more justification for his misconduct than did respondent, Lochausen, here. On a smaller scale the physical facts of the accident, that is, the extraordinary performance of the defendant’s car in the course of the accident, were not dissimilar from those of the instant case. Here, as there, the driver had a positive interest in the safety of his
It is said that this broad highway was “a winding road” and the inference seems to be drawn that the curve where the acci
Possibly mere speed beyond some given high rate should be considered as evidence of gross negligence, but here the speed was only twenty miles per hour above the legal limit and the curve itself no extraordinary hazard. There is no proof at all as to Lochausen’s speed more than a few second before the accident except his own testimony of a quite moderate rate and his alleged statement to the plaintiff’s attorney that he had been going in the neighborhood of fifty miles per hour. The only proof that might be argued to show a peristent course of misconduct is the testimony that Lochausen was familiar with the road and the curve — just as Mr. Blake knew about the stop sign in Rogers v. Blake.
We have, of course, held in Rowan v. Allen, 134 Texas 215, 134 S.W. 2d 1022, that proof of speed “between 45 and 50 miles an hour” within the city limits of San Antonio and a slight deviation at that speed to the wrong side of the road amounted to no more than evidence of ordinary negligence. In Bowman v. Puckett, 144 Texas 125, 188 S.W. 2d 571, we took pains to stress the facts that (a) the defendant driver had been proceeding at his high speed (ninety miles per hour) for quite a long time and failed to slow down after entering the city limits of the city in which the accident occurred, and (b) he did so notwithstanding his knowledge that the brakes of his car had a faulty tendency to throw the car to one side when applied. In Rogers v. Blake, the speed, while conservative in the absolute sense, was high in relation to what it would have been if the driver had stopped at the stop sign as he should have done.
It seems to me that in the instant case the court, without saying so, is basing its decision largely on the matter of high
Mr. Justice Calvert concurs in the conclusion herein reached.
Opinion delivered May 21, 1952.
Concurring Opinion
concurring.
I agree with the dissent on the question of gross negligence, but concur in the judgment of the majority in the belief that the burden of proof on the issue of guest or passenger rests on the defendant. Under the standard test for measuring testimony the jury could disregard those portions of defendant’s own testimony establishing the issue of guest. I believe there was some evidence to support the jury’s finding that the plaintiff’s husband was a passenger.
Opinion delivered May 21, 1952.
Reference
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- Mary Elizabeth Burt v. Jesse H. Lochausen, Jr. Et Al.
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