Equity Mutual Life Insurance v. Kroger Grocery & Baking Co.

175 S.W.2d 153, 238 Mo. App. 4, 1943 Mo. App. LEXIS 189
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 7, 1943
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 175 S.W.2d 153 (Equity Mutual Life Insurance v. Kroger Grocery & Baking Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Equity Mutual Life Insurance v. Kroger Grocery & Baking Co., 175 S.W.2d 153, 238 Mo. App. 4, 1943 Mo. App. LEXIS 189 (Mo. Ct. App. 1943).

Opinion

*8 SHAIN, P. J.

— -In this action the plaintiff seeks contribution from the defendants for monies paid out by plaintiff which is alleged to have been paid out by it on behalf' of said defendants.

This action for contribution arises out of an award by the Workmen’s Compensation Commission in the case of Hugo Schultz v. Moerschel Products Company, employer, and Equity Mutual Insurance Company, said insurance company being the plaintiff herein.

The Moerschel Products Company appealed from the award made by the commission to the circuit court, wherein there was a judgment upholding the award, and thereafter said Moerschel Products Company appealed from the judgment of the circuit court and the appeal came to this court and this court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court. [See Hugo Schultz v. Moerschel Products Company, 142 S. W. (2d) 105.]

The facts and issues involved in Schultz v. Moerschel Products Company ease are fully set forth in the opinion, supra, and we will not undertake herein to restate in detail. Sufficient to an understanding of the review of the case before us is the fact that Schultz was employed as a night watchman by approximately sixty corporations and business concerns located in the municipality of Hermann, Missouri. The parties concerning themselves with the employment of a night watchman conferred with and. cooperated with the city authorities of Hermann, Missouri, to the end that the night watchman be granted an officer’s commission and could carry a gun and have authority to make arrests. Under the condition of employment, each corporation or business firm agreed to pay $1 per month and the city, for certain duties to be performed by the watchman, also contributed to Schultz’s pay.

The Moerschel Products Company and the six defendants herein were the only ones of the total number of the concerns employing Schultz who were operating under the provisions of the- Missouri Workmen’s. Compensation Act.

Schultz filed claim with the Workmen’s Compensation. Commission and an award ih accordance with that act was made in favor of Schultz. The plaintiff herein was the insurer for the Moerschel Products Company and plaintiff, prior to the bringing of this suit, had duly met and paid to Schultz and on his behalf all amounts due to Schultz to the date this suit was brought.

This action by plaintiff is based upon the provisions of'. Section 3697 of the Missouri Workmen’s Compensation Act.

Sec. 3697 of the act is as follows:

*9 “Sec. 3697. Employer’s Liability may be joint and-several — contribution allowable. — If the injury or death occurs while the employee is in the joint service of two or more employers, their liability shall be. joint and several, and the employee may hold.any or all of such employers. As between themselves such employers shall have. contribution from each other in the proportion of their several liability for the wages of such employee, but nothing in this chapter shall prevent such employers from making a' different distribution. of their proportionate contributions as between themselves.”

We find no Missouri court decision which attempts to give any general construction of Section 3697, supra. In Grote et al. v. Monward Realty Co., 96 S. W. (2d) 660, we find brief comment upon one phase of the provisions of this section and we will discuss and apply same ante. However, we find no Missouri case attempting to interpret said section on the right of contribution provided for in this section.

Many of the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act have been construed in judicial opinions of this State and in giving construction herein, for the purpose of review of the issues, we deem it necessary to briefly review the scope and purposes of the act as gleaned from its language and in connection with construction given in previous opinions. This to the end thát our construction of the provisions of Section 3697 may harmonize with authoritative constructions which have preceded.

The Supreme Court of Missouri, in passing upon the constitutionality of the act, DeMay v. Liberty Foundry Co., 37 S. W. (2d) 640, 327 Mo. 495, stated that the act creates, entirely new rights or remedy in favor of an employee or his dependents, provided, however, that the employee elects to accept same..

It is further held that all rights and remedies of the employee, electing to come under the act, are supplanted except those not provided for by the act. The above opinion holds the act constitutional on the ground that it is elective and affords remedy for injury occasioned without fault or negligence, and further upon the doctrine that generally one may waive his constitutional right when public policy is not involved.

Our court opinions are uniform in holding that the rights or remedies provided for in the act appertain only to the relationship of master' and servant or, in modern parlance, between employee and employer and dependents. The purpose behind the act is' to the end of adjustment of matters growing out of and incident to the- relationship of master and servant. One who carefully reads the act is impressed with the legislative intent of utility and expediency in the adjustment of matters incident to employment.

The act is declared to be a code within itself, and a legislative agency or commission is set up for the administration of the code. This agency or commission is peculiarly a fact finding body that has *10 no judicial power and provision is made to give the award of the commission the status of a judgment by the action of the judiciary, either by direct application or often in court review on appeal. However, our courts are given but restricted powers of review. The Workmen’s Compensation Act, however, provides for judicial determination of matters beyond the scope of its delegated powers, and Section 3697 of the act expressly provides for judicial determination of contribution of awards made by the commission wherein there is joint employment by two or more employers. '

Section 3697 gives right to an employee of joint employers to proceed against one or all of the joint employers and provides contribution from those not proceeded against by the employee.

Schultz, the employee herein, chose to and did proceed against the Moerschel Products Company and, as before stated, the plaintiff herein having paid award, brings this action.

Under the provisions of Section 3715 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, employers under the act who have insurance are only secondarily liable as to awards made and the insurance company is primarily liable. The plaintiff herein, the insurer of Moerschel Products Company, being primarily liable to employee Schultz, having paid the award, is a proper plaintiff herein to enforce any right it may have under the provisions of Section 3697.

The plaintiff filed this action in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, on January 7, 1940.

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Bluebook (online)
175 S.W.2d 153, 238 Mo. App. 4, 1943 Mo. App. LEXIS 189, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/equity-mutual-life-insurance-v-kroger-grocery-baking-co-moctapp-1943.