Tort Law and Personal Injury: Golf Assault vs. Workplace Injury

Introduction: Two Personal Injury Cases

Two personal injury incidents in Texas illustrate different aspects of tort law and the legal remedies available to injured parties. The first involves a golfer who was stabbed during an altercation on a golf course, resulting in a life-threatening injury with no employer or insurer to pursue. The second is a workplace accident in which a manual laborer was seriously hurt when a ladder broke while he was performing construction work for his employer. Although both situations involve significant physical harm, the applicable legal theories, available defendants, and methods of collecting damages differ considerably between them.

Clay Carpenter, a 48-year-old golfer in Fort Worth, Texas, was stabbed in the leg with a golf club during a brawl over whether one group could play ahead of another on the course. He suffered a life-threatening injury when his femoral artery was punctured, sustained massive blood loss, and is in danger of losing his leg. Police investigated the incident, and criminal charges may be filed, although collecting civil damages could be difficult since no insurance claims are involved.

The Golf Course Assault and Battery Claim

If a car accident had occurred, automobile insurance would have covered damages and injuries, while property insurance would have been a factor if the golf course owners had been responsible. In this case, however, the only legal remedy is through the law of torts related to assault and battery. A plaintiff can bring a personal injury lawsuit, but the only way to collect money from the defendants will be through court-ordered property seizures, liens, or garnishment of wages.

Big Bird Tree Services in Dallas, Texas was a landscaping company that employed a manual laborer who was building an addition to the company's workshop when the ladder he was standing on broke. He was treated at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, required multiple surgeries, and now has fifteen screws in his foot. He could not return to work for one year after the accident and still cannot work a full day (Big Bird Tree Services v. [Student], 2012).

The Workplace Ladder Accident and Employer Liability

Because he was classified as indigent, the hospital charged him only a nominal fee and treated his injuries as a case of charity medicine. He would only be required to pay more medical costs if he received a damages award that expressly included them. The original trial court awarded him damages for lost wages and reasonable medical expenses based on the law of torts.

The injured worker was a skilled laborer trained in welding, refrigeration, and air conditioning, and also performed construction work. He earned about $250 a week at Big Bird, and even less at jobs he was able to find after the accident. Since he could only work six hours a day and had difficulty walking, he was limited to unskilled work at a car wash and a fast food restaurant. His wife testified that he had been a skilled worker and the main breadwinner in the family but was now unable to perform even simple yard work.

In its appeal, Big Bird claimed that the trial jury awarded damages for injuries that were not incurred and that the plaintiff did not present sufficient evidence to support the size of the award. Determining actual medical costs was difficult because hospitals often accept far less in payment than the amount billed in the case of low-income patients, based on insurance company contracts and federal Medicare and Medicaid regulations. After considering earlier precedents and Section 41.0105 of the Texas Civil Code, the appeals court determined that the plaintiff could collect reasonable damages for medical costs and that these would not constitute a windfall. Big Bird was liable for these expenses because the worker was injured while employed by them.