Franklin Life Insurance Company v. Rogers

316 S.W.2d 116, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2201
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 30, 1958
Docket3387
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 316 S.W.2d 116 (Franklin Life Insurance Company v. Rogers) 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
Franklin Life Insurance Company v. Rogers, 316 S.W.2d 116, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2201 (Tex. Ct. App. 1958).

Opinion

GRISSOM, Chief Justice.

Rogers was the agent of Franklin Life Insurance Company for the purpose of soliciting applications for insurance. They had a written contract which provided for payment of commissions to Rogers. Section 23 provided that if Franklin should be sued because of an “alleged” act of Rogers all expense of such a suit should *117 be paid by Rogers. Rogers sold policies to John M. Faggard. Faggard sued Rogers and Franklin Insurance Company to cancel the policies and recover the premiums paid because of an alleged misrepresentation by Rogers. A jury found that Rogers had represented to Faggard that if he would buy the policies Faggard would get a net dividend of 15% per year on the premiums paid; that this representation was false and a material inducement to Faggard to purchase the policies and that Faggard believed and relied thereon. The court rendered judgment for Faggard. In that case Franklin alleged Section 23 of its contract with Rogers and prayed that “if” Faggard recovered a judgment against Franklin that it recover judgment over against Rogers for the same amount plus $1,500 attorneys fee and all other expense of defending Faggard’s suit. The trial court, having rendered judgment for Fag-gard against Franklin for the amount of the premiums paid, rendered judgment for Franklin against Rogers for the same amount and $1,500 attorneys fee, with 6% interest thereon from the date of said judgment. The San Antonio Court held that Faggard had no right to rely upon the representation that the jury found Rogers made to induce Faggard to purchase the policies and reversed and rendered judgment that Faggard take nothing against Franklin and that Franklin recover nothing from Rogers. Franklin Life Insurance Company v. Faggard, Tex.Civ.App., 296 S.W.2d 335.

Thereafter Rogers instituted this suit against Franklin for commissions for the sale of Franklin’s policies. Rogers alleged that Franklin had charged his commission account with the attorneys fees incurred in defense of Faggard’s suit, with interest, amounting to $2,597.02, and that Franklin had thereby converted his commissions and that he was entitled to commissions totaling $2,812.58. He alleged that the judgment in the Faggard case had determined that Franklin was not entitled to recover attorneys fees incurred in the defense of the Faggard case and that Franklin was estopped by said judgment from relitigat-ing his liability for said fees. Rogers then alleged that he had demanded payment of said “wages or salaries”, in the form of commissions, more than thirty days before filing suit and Franklin had refused to pay the same and, therefore, he was entitled to recover attorneys fees.

Franklin answered that it had complied with its contract and that it had not refused to pay Rogers any money “for which it is or might be liable”. It denied that plaintiff was forced to employ counsel to collect any money Franklin owed him and that it was not indebted to Rogers for any amount over and above “current collections”. Franklin then alleged the written contract with Rogers and, specifically, Section 23; alleged the filing of the suit by Faggard and that Franklin had to employ counsel to defend that suit and that under Section 23 it had the right to, and did, reimburse itself from Rogers’ commission account for attorneys fees incurred in defending that suit. Wherefore, it prayed that Rogers take nothing.

Rogers filed a motion for a summary judgment. He alleged that his pleadings and affidavit, a copy of the pleadings, verdict and judgment in the Faggard case and the mandate of the Court of Civil Appeals, all of which were attached, showed there was no genuine issue as to any material fact and, as a matter of law, he was entitled to judgment for the commissions sued for, without deduction of said attorneys fees. Rogers alleged that Franklin was estopped from “relitigating” the question of his liability for attorneys fees in the Faggard case under the “contract sued on”. Rogers alleged Franklin had notified him that it had charged his commission account with $2,597.02 attorneys fee incurred in defending that suit. Rogers then alleged that he demanded payment of the commissions withheld by Franklin and it had refused to pay the same and he had been required to employ counsel. He attached Franklin’s pleadings in the Faggard case, *118 in which Franklin sought to recover from Rogers the expense of defending that suit only in the event Faggard had judgment against it. Rogers also attached the verdict and judgment of the District Court in the Faggard case and the final judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals, which reversed and rendered the judgment of the trial court for Faggard against both Franklin and Rogers and the judgment for Franklin over against Rogers for indemnity and attorneys fees.

Franklin answered Rogers’ motion for a summary judgment by denying that the pleadings, affidavits and exhibits showed he was, as a matter of law, entitled to judgment and alleged there were issues of material fact to be tried, as shown by his affidavits and exhibit. Franklin then alleged that in the Faggard case the only issue decided between Franklin and Rogers was whether Rogers was liable under their contract for indemnity and attorneys fees if Faggard recovered judgment against Franklin; that the defense here relied upon by Franklin, that Rogers is liable to reimburse it for attorneys fee incurred in defending an action where misrepresentation by Rogers was alleged but not proved, was not an issue in the Faggard case and said issue had not been adjudicated. Attached thereto was the affidavit of Franklin’s counsel that he was in the Faggard suit and knew that the following genuine issues as to material facts were not raised nor adjudicated in that case, to wit, (a) whether Franklin had failed to comply with its contract with Rogers; (b) whether Franklin had withheld money due Rogers; (c) what amount, if any, was withheld and applied to the expense of defending the Faggard case; (d) whether Rogers had been damaged by the failure of Franklin to pay the amounts alleged to be due him; (e) what amount of damages, if any, was suffered by Rogers; (f) whether Rogers was forced by the conduct of Franklin to employ an attorney and (g) whether Rogers agreed to pay his attorney a reasonable fee. Thereafter Franklin filed a supplemental controverting affidavit in which its'vice-president swore that he knew Franklin had “not withheld any commissions-from Charles J. Rogers which were earned' by” him and that it had not refused to pay Rogers any amount “due him”.

The court sustained Rogers’ motion for summary judgment for the commissions sued for plus attorneys fees, the reasonableness of which was agreed to, with interest on the commissions from the date they were withheld. Franklin has appealed.

Franklin’s points are that the-court erred in granting Rogers’ motion for summary judgment because the pleadings, and affidavits raise issues of material fact and, under its agency contract, Franklin was entitled to reimburse itself for attorneys fees regardless of the result of the-Faggard suit and that Rogers’ contention that its right to attorneys fees had been adjudicated in the Faggard case was without merit. It says that Rogers’ affidavit that Franklin has withheld and refused to-pay commissions earned by Rogers and its-vice-president’s affidavit that it “has not withheld any commissions” from Rogers-which were earned by him are contradictory.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Life Insurance Co. of Virginia v. Gar-Dal, Inc.
570 S.W.2d 378 (Texas Supreme Court, 1978)
Sawyer v. Getz
398 S.W.2d 376 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1965)
Smith v. Crockett Production Credit Ass'n
372 S.W.2d 956 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1963)
Bein v. McPhaul
357 S.W.2d 420 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1962)
Dingman v. Commercial Insurance Co.
333 S.W.2d 706 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1960)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
316 S.W.2d 116, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/franklin-life-insurance-company-v-rogers-texapp-1958.