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Pat Baker Co. v. Wilson6/23/1998
On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of Texas
The issue we are asked to decide is whether, in a case involving several plaintiffs, the fact that an appellate court reverses a judgment in favor of one plaintiff on the basis that the amount of damages awarded to that party was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence empowers it to reverse the judgment against all other plaintiffs without finding any error with regard to them. We conclude that the court of appeals should not have reversed the entire judgment and remanded all parties for a new trial without first finding error as to each plaintiff. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals, ___ S.W.2d ___, and remand the case to that court to consider the merits of the Wilson plaintiffs' appeal.
Talon Development Company is in the oil and gas exploration business. To assist in one of its drilling projects, Talon hired the Pat Baker Company ("Baker") to reinforce a bridge leading to one of Talon's oil drilling sites. Baker placed a railcar overlay on the existing bridge, which was intended to more evenly distribute weight along the bridge. Talon also hired Tucker Wireline Services on the same drilling project to probe Talon's oil well and determine its potential for oil and gas production. Tucker was to access the drilling site by means of the reinforced bridge.
One evening, Talon summoned Tucker's wireline truck to the drilling site. Eddie Wilson, Tucker's employee, was driving across the reinforced bridge when one of the truck's wheels left the overlay, causing the truck to roll off the bridge and land upside down in the creek. Wilson was killed, and the wireline truck was significantly damaged. An autopsy indicated that Wilson was legally intoxicated at the time of his death.
Wilson's survivors sued Talon, Baker, and others for wrongful death. Tucker intervened to recover for the damages to its wireline truck. Prior to trial, all defendants except Baker either settled or were nonsuitponsible for the accident and awarded $750,000 to the Wilson plaintiffs. However, after reducing that award because of Eddie Wilson's comparative fault and giving dollar-for-dollar credit for $800,000 in settlements, only one of the Wilson plaintiffs actually recovered damages pursuant to the trial court's judgment. The jury awarded $15,300 to Tucker for the damages to its wireline truck.
Baker did not appeal, but both Tucker and the Wilson plaintiffs separately perfected appeals and filed separate briefs in the court of appeals. Each complained only of the amount of damages awarded by the jury. The court of appeals reached the merits of only Tucker's appeal. The court held that the jury's award to Tucker was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence and that Tucker was entitled to a new trial on liability and damages. The court of appeals then concluded that " he facts and issues related to liability for the accident underlying this appeal are the same for Tucker as for the Wilson appellants; therefore, the Wilson appellants' case must also be remanded for new trial." ___ S.W.2d at ___. Accordingly, the court of appeals reversed and remanded the entire case without considering the Wilson plaintiffs' points of error.
On rehearing, the court of appeals reaffirmed its decision to remand the entire case. 960 S.W.2d 186. Baker filed a petition for review in this Court, asking that we reverse the part of the court of appeals' judgment that remanded the Wilson plaintiffs' claims. After Baker had filed its petition for review, Tucker and Baker reached a settlement. Baker has now filed an amended petition urging that an additi
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