Court Opinion

ID: 9773663
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:53:12.043905+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:55.950545
License: Public Domain

STEPHENS, Justice.
This appeal arises from an adverse summary judgment in a suit brought on behalf of six minor children to recover exemplary damages for the deaths of their fathers, Edward Morgan and Norman Daugherty. Suit was brought under the authority of Tex.Const. art. XVI, § 26, and Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat.Ann. art. 8306, § 5 (Vernon 1967). We conclude that a fact issue exists as to the gross negligence of Pool Company, and that summary judgment was improper. Consequently, we reverse and remand.
The summary judgment evidence shows that on September 14, 1974, while in the employment of Pool Company, and while acting within the course and scope of their employment, the decedents were killed by electrocution when a rig derrick on which they were working was raised and came into contact with a high voltage electric power line. At the time of the accident, Pool Company had promulgated safety regulations for its employees. Safety regulation number 29 provided “Rig derricks will not be raised under or near electrical lines until these lines have been completely de-energized.”
Appellants contend that the deposition evidence establishes a continued violation of safety regulation number 29 which raises an issue of fact as to whether such continued violation constitutes gross negligence. The current definition of gross negligence is found in Burk Royalty Company v. Walls, 616 S.W.2d 911 (Tex.1981). In Burk, the supreme court reaffirmed the definition set out in Missouri Pacific Ry. v. Shuford, 72 Tex. 165, 171, 10 S.W. 408, 411 (1888):
Gross negligence, to be the ground for exemplary damages, should be that entire want of care which would raise the belief that the act or omission complained of was the result of a conscious indifference to the right or welfare of the person or persons to be affected by it. Burk Royalty Company v. Walls, supra, at 920.
In reviewing the summary judgment evidence, we must accept as true all evidence tending to support the non-mov-ant’s contentions, and must resolve in his favor all conflicts in the evidence, giving him the benefits of all intendments reasonably deducible in his behalf. Kolb v. Texas Employers’ Insurance Association, 585 S.W.2d 870, 873 (Tex.Civ.App.—Texarkana 1979, writ ref’d n.r.e.). See also Wilcox v. St. Mary’s University of San Antonio, Inc., 531 S.W.2d 589, 593 (Tex.1975). We recognize further that the non-movant is not required to establish his right to prevail. DeCluitt v. DeCluitt; 613 S.W.2d 777, 780 (Tex.Civ.App.—Waco 1981, writ dism’d). Summary judgment procedure should be used only to eliminate from the legal process those claims which are patently unmeri-torious and undisputed. Kolb v. Texas Employers' Association, supra.
In accordance with these guidelines, we review the summary judgment evidence. Melvin Wayne Harper testified by deposition that at the time of the accident, he was employed by Pool Company as District Manager in charge of operations. He stated that the decedents took their orders from him, and from Bobby Blundell, the field supervisor. Harper testified that it was his duty to make sure that operations were conducted' under safe conditions in accordance with the Pool Company Safety Handbook. Although he was not present at the scene when the accident occurred, he knew that the derrick came into contact with high voltage lines which resulted in the electrocution of the decedents. He testified further that he had been in charge of *372operations for approximately two years pri- or to the accident, but had never made a request for de-energization of high voltage lines and was not familiar with any occasion on which such a request had been made by anyone in a supervisory capacity. The prohibition contained in safety regulation number 29 was “just common knowledge” to Pool’s employees, according to Harper. Yet he also stated that he was “almost sure” that the employees had been instructed concerning the rule prior to the accident.
Prank Pool, managing director of Pool Company, testified by deposition that safety regulation number 29 was violated on the date of the accident. He admitted that the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Division, subsequently conducted an investigation of the accident and imposed a fine on Pool Company.
Bobby Blundell, field supervisor of the Denver City area at the time of the accident, gave deposition testimony that he had never requested de-energization of a line and did not know of anyone who had made such a request. The following excerpts of Blundell’s deposition are relevant to appellants’ contention that safety regulation number 29 was continually violated:
Q. All right, What I’m — what I’m asking you is, do you know whether any crew like Norman Daugherty’s crew, that did well servicing work — do you know whether prior to September 14th, 1974, they ever did any work, either that crew or any other crew, that did that kind of work for Pool whether or not they ever moved a pulling unit in and had occasion to raise a derrick near or under any high voltage electric lines?
A. They work awful close to it all the time.
Q. All right. That’s what I am talking about.
A. Okay.
Q. On those occasions that you are familiar with prior to September 14th, 1974, you don’t have any knowledge of any of those electric lines ever being de-ener-gized before the work started?
A. No, sir.
Q. In other words, it was the customary practice not to request any electric company to cut off the power or de-energize the lines before this work began?
A. That’s right.
Q. Okay. And that was the custom even though the work to your knowledge was done all the time near these lines?
A. Oh, yeah.
Q. Right.
A. Most of the lines are underground.
Q. I know, but I’m talking about overhead.
A. Overhead, uh-huh.
Q. And that was a customary practice even with the overhead, right?
A. Right. The crew chief and the crew members would normally scan the area and then if they saw something that would create a problem, then they would call in and we could take action then. But it had never come up.
******
Q. At any rate, you say you are always near these lines?
A. Yes.
Q. With high voltage in them?
A. Yes.
Q. And you know there was a number of times when crews, like Norman Daugherty’s crew, went out and did well servicing work on certain wells that were near these lines where the rig had to be raised near the lines, right?
A. I would say every one of them in the Denver City area is near.
Blundell’s deposition contains conflicting statements. Although he testified that a problem “had never come up,” he testified also that work was done “awful close” to the electrical lines “all the time.” These conflicts must be resolved in appellants’ favor, and the evidence accepted as true that Pool Company allowed derricks to be raised near electrical lines without requiring de-energization. See Kolb v. Texas Employers’ Insurance Association, supra. The prohibition of safety regulation number 29 *373took effect when rig derricks were under or near electrical lines. The deposition testimony of Bobby Blundell establishes that rig derricks were raised near electrical lines in the Denver City area “all the time.” Neither Harper nor Blundell was aware of any instance in which electrical lines had been de-energized. Consequently, the deposition testimony established that safety regulation number 29 was continually violated. This fact is material to the question whether Pool Company’s failure to enforce the regulation as written “was the result of a conscious indifference to the right or welfare of the person or persons to be affected by it.” Burk Royalty Company v. Walls, supra at 920.
A corporation has the non-delega-ble duty to provide rules and regulations for the safety of its employees, to furnish safe machinery and instrumentalities, to provide a safe place to work, and to select careful and competent fellow servants. Burk Royalty Company v. Walls, supra at 923-924; Ft. Worth Elevators Company v. Russell, 123 Tex. 128, 70 S.W.2d 397, 401 (1934). Implicit within the non-delegable duty of providing safety rules and regulations is the responsibility for insuring that the rules and regulations are followed. Even though Pool Company might have had no direct knowledge of the location of the rig derrick on the date in question, it could not delegate its responsibility for insuring compliance with the safety regulations to the employees on the rig. See Burk Royalty Company v. Walls, supra. If a jury were to find that Pool Company permitted continual violations of its safety regulations by failing to enforce them, and if this were found to constitute gross negligence, Pool Company would not be relieved of liability simply because the decedents raised the rig into the power line.
We conclude that the summary judgment evidence raises a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Pool Company was grossly negligent. Consequently, we reverse and remand for a trial on the merits.