Tregellas v. American Oil Co.

Maria Victoria Tregellas and her husband (the Tregellases or plaintiffs) sued the American Oil Company (the oil company or defendant) to recover damages for personal injuries, loss of services, and for medical and hospital expenses and property damage, arising out of the rear-end collision of an automobile owned by the oil company with the automobile of the Tregellases.

At the close of all the evidence, the trial court granted the motion of the oil company for a directed verdict on the premise that the uncontradicted evidence disclosed that the operator of the company automobile (even though…