Evans v. General Insurance Company of America

390 S.W.2d 818
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 9, 1965
Docket16477
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 390 S.W.2d 818 (Evans v. General Insurance Company of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Evans v. General Insurance Company of America, 390 S.W.2d 818 (Tex. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

DIXON, Chief Justice.

Appellee General Insurance Company of America, hereinafter called General Insurance, brought this suit against Albert R. Evans, Morris W. Hussey and Shar Trucking, Inc., hereinafter called the Company. Appellee sued for and was awarded a declaratory judgment that it is under no obligation to defend Shar Trucking, Inc. or Morris Hussey in a personal injury suit brought against them by Evans.

Shar Trucking, Inc. is a corporation engaged in hauling sand, gravel and other materials. It is the insured in a policy of liability insurance issued by General Insurance. Hussey, a truck driver, is an em *820 ployee of Shar Tracking, Inc. Evans is President of Shar Trucking, Inc.

On August 22, 1960 Evans, President of the Company, was injured when struck by a Company truck operated by Hussey on the storage lot where the Company’s trucks were kept and its office was located. Thereafter Evans sued the Company and Hussey for damages for personal injuries allegedly caused by Hussey’s negligent operation of the truck.

In its amended petition and trial amendment appellee General Insurance alleges that it is under no duty to defend the suit of Evans against the Company and Hussey because (1) Evans is an employee of the Company and the insurance does not apply to an employee with respect to an injury by another employee; (2) under the exclusions of coverage named in Sec. (g) of the policy the insurance does not apply to bodily injury of an employee of the insured arising from his employment; and (3) appellant Evans is a majority stockholder in the Company, therefore Evans and the Company are one and the same and Evans as party plaintiff cannot be allowed to bring suit against himself, which he is attempting to do when he sues the Company, his alter ego.

In his brief appellant Evans says (and it is not contradicted by appellee) that after General Insurance filed this suit for declaratory judgment he, Evans, dismissed his suit for personal injuries against the company and Hussey, and filed a cross-claim in this suit for his damages. On motion of appellee the cross-claim was severed from this suit. Following severance General Insurance filed its amended petition for declaratory judgment and Evans filed his second amended answer.

After a nonjury trial of appellee’s suit for declaratory judgment the court rendered judgment declaring that General Insurance does not owe a duty to defend the damage suit filed by Evans against the Company and Hussey.

The insurance policy in question was never introduced in evidence, nor is a copy of it attached to appellee’s amended petition. In a supplemental transcript there is a copy of an insurance policy which is described in the index as “Insurance Policy attached to Plaintiff’s Original Petition as Exhibit ‘A’ However, the original petition is not shown anywhere in the record.

In his brief appellant Evans says, “Since the trial court and this court do not have before them the full text of the insurance policy in question we are constrained to accept the allegations of paragraphs V and VI of the Amended Petition for Declaratory Judgment as being the only provisions thereof pertinent to this case.”

Paragraphs V and VI, above referred to, of the amended petition of appellee General Insurance are as follows:

“V.
Plaintiff would show the court that under the provisions of Section III of said policy of insurance, Plaintiff is relieved of the duty to defend on the policy in that such provision provides, in effect, that insurance for other than the named insured (Shar Trucking, Inc.) does not apply to an employee with respect to an injury to another employee, and that, therefore, under the fact situation presented in said suit on file, Defendants do not fall within the ‘definition of insured’.
“VI.
Further, Plaintiff would show the court that said policy provides (Exclusions, Sec. (g)) that the policy does not apply to bodily injury of an employee of the insured arising from his employment.”

Another important document which was not introduced in evidence and is not shown in the record anywhere is Evans’ petition setting up his cross-claim which was severed *821 from this suit and which contains the allegations that furnish the basis of Evans’ suit for damages against the Company and Hus-sey. As we shall later point out the nature of Evans’ suit and the duty of General Insurance to defend it will depend on the allegations in the petition setting up the cross-claim.

OPINION

In his first point on appeal Evans says the court erred in ruling that Evans, President of the Company, was an employee hy virtue of such office within the meaning of the policy. Appellee General Insurance in its first counterpoint says that the court did not err in so ruling.

We agree with appellant. In Paragraphs V and VI of its petition for declaratory judgment appellee pleads that the insurance coverage does not apply when an employee causes an injury to another employee, or an injury to an employee of the insured arising from his employment. But the record before us fails to disclose that there is any provision in the policy to the effect that the insurance coverage does not apply when an employee negligently causes an injury to an officer of the corporation who is acting at the time in his capacity as an officer and not as an employee of the insured.

The mere fact that a person is an officer of a corporation does not mean that by virtue of his status as an officer he must also be regarded as an employee. In Horne Motors, Inc. v. Latimer, Tex.Civ.App., 148 S.W.2d 1000 the secretary-treasurer of a corporation was also employed as a bookkeeper. He was injured due to the negligence of an employee of the corporation. The facts showed that at the time of his injury he was acting in his capacity as an officer of the corporation, not as an employee. It was held that he had a right to sue the corporation. We think the case is authority for our holding that though a person may be an officer or an employee of a corporation, or both, he is not as a matter of law an employee by virtue of the fact that he is an officer. Appellant’s first point on appeal is sustained.

In his second point on appeal appellant says that the court erred in finding that the injury of Evans arose from his employment within the meaning of the policy, there being no evidence to support such finding.

Again we agree with appellant. Our Supreme Court in the recent case of Heyden Newport Chem. Corp. et al. v. Southern Gen. Ins. Co., Tex., 387 S.W.2d 22, has held that “in determining the duty of a liability insurance company to defend a lawsuit the allegations of the complainant should be considered in the light of the policy provisions without reference to the truth or falsity of such allegations and without reference to what the parties know or believe the true facts to be, or without reference to a legal determination thereof.”

The Supreme Court in the above case expressly approved and quoted from Maryland Casualty Co.

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390 S.W.2d 818, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/evans-v-general-insurance-company-of-america-texapp-1965.