Exemplary Damges Clay Carpenter, a 48-Year-Old Golfer Essay

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Exemplary Damges

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 one on the course. He suffered a life-threatening injury when his femoral artery was punctured and sustained massive blood loss, and is in danger of losing his leg. The police were investigating the incident and criminal charges may be filed, although collecting for civil damages could be difficult since no insurance claims are involved. If a car accident had occurred then automobile insurance would have covered damage and injuries, while property insurance would have been in factor if the owners of the golf course had been responsible. In this case, though, the only legal remedy is through the law of torts related to assault and battery. A plaintiff will be able to 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 Julian Gallegos as a manual laborer. He was building an addition to Big Bird'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. Gallegos could not return to work for one year after the accident, and still cannot work a full day" (Big Bird Tree Services v. Gallegos 2012).

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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 forced to pay more medical costs if he received an award for damages that expressly included these. The original trial court awarded him damages for lost wages and reasonable medical expenses based on the law of torts.

In its appeal Big Bird claimed that the trial jury awarded damages for injuries that were not incurred and that Gallegos did not present sufficient evidence to support the size of the award. Determining actual medical costs was difficult, since hospitals often accepted far less in payments than was actually 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 civil code the appeals court determined Gallegos could collect reasonable damages for medical costs and that these would not be a windfall. Big Bird was liable for these expenses because Gallegos was injured while working for them. Gallegos was a skilled worker, trained in welding, refrigeration and air conditioning, and also did construction work. He earned about $250 a week at Big Bird, and even less at his jobs after the accident. Since he was only able to work six hours a day and had difficulty walking, he could only find unskilled work at a car wash and fast food restaurant. Gallego's wife testified that he was a skilled worker.....

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