## Facts

- Alvis Kent Waldrep, Jr. was recruited to play football at Texas Christian University (TCU) and accepted athletic financial aid covering tuition, room, and board plus a small stipend.
- Before enrollment, Waldrep signed a letter of intent reflecting his commitment to participate in TCU football within conference rules.
- Waldrep later signed a financial aid agreement providing educational benefits conditioned on eligibility and compliance with intercollegiate athletics rules.
- TCU football participation was governed by NCAA and conference rules; coaches imposed detailed requirements relating to practices, training, and team conduct.
- In 1974, while playing intercollegiate football for TCU, Waldrep suffered a catastrophic injury during a game.
- In 1991, Waldrep filed a workers’ compensation claim asserting he was an “employee” of TCU and that the injury was compensable.
- The Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission awarded benefits, but the insurer appealed to district court for a trial de novo.
- A jury found Waldrep failed to prove he was an employee at the time of injury, and the trial court rendered a take-nothing judgment.
- Waldrep appealed, challenging the employee-status determination and several evidentiary rulings.

## Issues

1. Whether Waldrep was an “employee” of TCU as a matter of law under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act.
2. Whether legally sufficient evidence supported the jury’s finding that Waldrep was not an employee.
3. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting or excluding evidence (including deposition testimony and materials related to medical expenses).

## Decision

- The court of appeals affirmed the take-nothing judgment.
- Waldrep did not establish an employer–employee relationship as a matter of law.
- More than a mere scintilla of evidence supported the jury’s finding that Waldrep was not an employee.
- The challenged evidentiary rulings were within the trial court’s discretion and did not constitute reversible error.

## Legal Principles

- Workers’ compensation coverage depends on an employer–employee relationship, commonly evaluated through (1) a contract of hire (express or implied) and (2) the employer’s right to control the details of the work.
- Scholarship or financial-aid documents for intercollegiate athletics do not necessarily constitute a contract of hire or wages for labor.
- Extensive regulation of athletic participation may reflect educational and amateur athletics governance rather than the type of control indicating employment.
- On legal-sufficiency review, a verdict stands if the record contains more than a mere scintilla of evidence supporting it.
- Evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion and require reversal only upon a showing of harmful error.

## Conclusion

The court held that a scholarship student-athlete injured while playing university football was not an employee for workers’ compensation purposes on this record, upheld the jury’s no-employment finding as legally sufficient, and found no reversible evidentiary error.


Waldrep v. Tex. Emps. Ins. Ass’n, 21 S.W.3d 692 (Tex. App.—Austin 2000)