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Depriter v. Tom Thumb Stores5/31/1996
Filed May 31, 1996
OPINION
In a single point of error, appellant asserts the trial court erred in not submitting a proffered jury instruction. We overrule appellant's point of error and affirm the trial court's judgment.
BACKGROUND
Appellant was employed by Tom Thumb Stores, Inc. (Tom Thumb) for several years. She injured her back while assisting a customer at the checkout counter. As a consequence of her back injury, appellant had to change job assignments.
Appellant was transferred to accounts payable. Things did not go well in accounts payable, and appellant was terminated.
Appellant brought suit against Tom Thumb asserting she was terminated in whole or in part because of her workers' compensation claim in violation of article 8307c. Tom Thumb denied the allegation and claimed that it fired appellant for reasons unrelated to her compensation claim. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Tom Thumb.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review a trial court's refusal to submit a jury instruction under an abuse of discretion standard. Thomas v. Oldham, 895 S.W.2d 352, 360 (Tex. 1995); European Crossroads' Shopping Ctr., Ltd. v. Criswell, 910 S.W.2d 45, 54 (Tex. App.--Dallas 1995, writ denied); Weitzul Constr., Inc. v. Outdoor Environs, 849 S.W.2d 359, 365 (Tex. App.--Dallas 1993, writ denied). A trial court abuses its discretion in this context when its action is arbitrary or unreasonable. European Crossroads', 910 S.W.2d at 54. A trial court may also abuse its discretion when it acts without reference to any guiding rules or principles. Weitzul Constr., 849 S.W.2d at 365.
Appellant's appeal centers on the following jury question: Did Tom Thumb Stores, Inc. discharge Pamela DePriter in violation of the Texas Workers' Compensation Act?
The Texas Workers' Compensation Act provides that no person may discharge an employee because the employee has in good faith filed a claim, hired a lawyer to represent her in a claim, instituted or caused to be instituted in good faith, any proceeding under the Texas Workers' Compensation Act, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding.
The preceding paragraph applies with equal force to employers who do not carry workers' compensation insurance as it does to those employers who do carry workers' compensation insurance.
The jury answered the foregoing question "no." Appellant asserts the trial court erred in not submitting the following tendered instruction: You are instructed that a Plaintiff has the burden of establishing a link between her discharge from employment with Defendant and her workers' compensation proceeding. Plaintiff need not prove her discharge from employment was solely because of a workers' compensation proceeding, but must prove that her proceeding under the Texas Workers' Compensation Act was at least a factor in her discharge.
At the charge conference, appellant argued she was entitled to the foregoing instruction because "the case law provides that the Plaintiff need not prove the condition of compensation received was the sole cause, but rather was a cause or a factor of the discharge." The trial court refused to submit the foregoing instruction by written order. The trial court did advise appellant that she could "argue that from the wording of the question itself."
APPLICABLE LAW
The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure require a trial court to "submit such instructions and definitions as shall be proper to enable the jury to render a verdict." Tex. R. Civ. P. 277. When statutory violations are the basis of jury questions, the questions sh
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