R & R CONTRACTORS v. Torres

OPINION

CASTILLO, Justice.

Appellants, R & R Contractors and R & R Oilfield Services, Inc. (hereinafter appellant or “R & R”) 1 employed Gregorio Torres, Jr., a truck driver, who, during working hours near quitting time, died after a thousand-pound tank slipped from a sling and crushed his lower body. 2 Appellees, his widow, Mary Torres, and his children, filed a gross negligence action under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act for wrongful death. 3 TEX. LAB. CODE ANN. § 408.001 (Vernon 1996). The case was tried solely on the issue of exemplary damages. A jury found R & R grossly negligent and…