Harris v. General Coach Works

37 F.R.D. 343, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9842
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedSeptember 15, 1964
DocketCiv. A. No. 24034
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 37 F.R.D. 343 (Harris v. General Coach Works) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris v. General Coach Works, 37 F.R.D. 343, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9842 (E.D. Mich. 1964).

Opinion

TALBOT SMITH, District Judge.

The motion before us is that of the Great American Insurance Company, the compensation carrier of the plaintiff’s employer (Jimmie Harris, Inc.), to intervene in the action now pending between the employee, James W. Harris, plaintiff, and General Coach Works, the alleged tortfeasor, defendant. The plaintiff opposes the intervention.

The proposed intervenor seeks to intervene in this action because “(it) is the Workmen’s Compensation insurance carrier of the employer of the plaintiff, James W. Harris, the presentation of which by the plaintiff, James W. Harris, may be-inadequate and Great American Insurance Company may be bound by the judgment in this action.”

It was held long ago that where) the other requirements of that rule are-1 fulfilled, a compensation carrier has a I right to intervene under Rule 24(a) where it has the right of subrogation undeif state law against any recovery by the-injured employee against a third party, Sloan v. Appalachian Electric Power Co., 27 F.Supp. 108 (D.C.W.Va. 1939).

The applicable Michigan Statute is M.S.A. § 17.189, C.L.1948, § 413.15, Pub. Acts, 1952, No. 155, which after providing a right to bring an action in the-name of the injured party where he fails, to so do and the right to join in such an action whether brought by the employer or the insurance company, provides :

“Any recovery against a third party for damages resulting from personal injuries * * *, after deducting expenses of recovery, shall first reimburse the employer or its workmen’s compensation insurance carrier for any amounts paid or payable under the workmen’s compensation act to date of recovery, and the balance shall * * * be paid to the employee * *

The proposed intervenor seeks to implement the above state created right under Rule 24(a) and (b) of the Federal. [345]*345Rules of Civil Procedure, providing in relevant part as follows:

“(a) Intervention of Right. Upon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene in an action: * * * (2) when the representation of the applicant’s interest by existing parties is or may be inadequate and the applicant is or may be bound by a judgment in the action; * * *
“(b) Permissive Intervention. * * * (2) when an applicant’s claim or defense and the main action have a question of law or fact in common.”

Under the above quoted statute, proposed intervenor is clearly a party in interest who “is or may be bound by a judgment in the action”. The application for intervention was timely and under the circumstances of this ease the applicant has shown to our satisfaction that the representation of his interests “may be inadequate” within the requirements of Rule 24(a). Kozak v. Wells, 278 F.2d 104, 84 A.L.R.2d 1400 (8th Cir. 1960). Rule 24(b) as well allows intervention in the event of a common question of law or fact. In the Sloan case, supra, the court held that where an employee receiving compensation under a workmen’s compensation statute brings a suit for negligence against a third party (the precise situation we have here) such a common question of law and fact can be said to exist that the compensation carrier who has a right of subrogation under state law may intervene under Rule 24(b) governing permissive intervention.

The inter-relation of the above quoted statute and rules is clear. The insurance company, as a compensation ■carrier, has a right of subrogation under Michigan law and as such under the .authority of both Rules 24(a) and 24(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is entitled to intervene where the requirements of those rules have been met, as we have so held. The Great American Insurance Company may intervene.

This ruling, however, brings us only to the threshold of the argument between the parties. The real bone of contention relates to the scope of the intervention. The intervening plaintiff seeks') to be so captioned in the suit and to participate in the trial. (There is alsoj an argument over attorneys’ fees which we will handle in due course, if the parties cannot.) The plaintiff, on the other hand, says essentially that it is his lawsuit, not the insurance company’s, and that his interests will be jeopardized if it is known by the jury that an insurance company has made certain payments to plaintiff and has a stake in the recovery, if any there be.

Sitting in this diversity matter, enforcing a state-created right, we are, in effect, “only another Court of the State”. Guaranty Trust Co. of New York v. York, 326 U.S. 99, 65 S.Ct. 1464, 89 L.Ed. 2079 (1945). As such our duty is found in trilogy of cases, Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938), Guaranty Trust of New York, supra, and Byrd v. Blue Ridge Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc., 356 U.S. 525, 78 S.Ct. 893, 2 L.Ed.2d 953 (1958). We do not attempt any broad reconciliation of all that is found in these cases, if indeed that were possible.1 But whether tested by the early and ambiguous “substantive-procedural” dichotomy of Erie, the “outcome determinative” test of Guaranty Trust of New York, which, taken literally, would require complete conformity of Federal with State procedure,2 or the later, more sophisticated balaneing-ofinterests test of Byrd, or combinations thereof, we are satisfied that this matter [346]*346should be governed by the state practice. The rights asserted relate to the management and conduct of the trial itself, here a jury trial, a matter which seem to be an integral part of the state-created right. We find no strong countervailing federal policy. And so far as other states are concerned, the views of their courts as to the impact of insurance disclosure upon damage recovery are interesting and helpful, but viewpoints and policies in different areas of the country are as variant as their climates. This case is being tried in a Michigan Court by Michigan counsel before a Michigan jury, and the views of the Michigan Supreme Court will dictate our ruling herein. We proceed, then, to an examination of the Michigan authorities.

In the case McCullough v. Ward Trucking Company, 368 Mich. 108, 117 N.W.2d 167, the Court divided equally upon the question of whether or not the trial court ruled properly that counsel (for a track driver and his insurer) should make no reference to workmen’s compensation in the presence of the jury. The broad question of policy was whether an insurer’s interest should be made known to the jury, under proper instructions. In later cases the situation clarified. In Harrison v. Ford Motor Company, 370 Mich. 683, 122 N.W.2d 680, the court phrased one issue in the case as follows:

“Should insurer have been permitted to intervene as party plaintiff in the plaintiff employee’s suit? That the insurer is a real party in interest is manifest. Muskegon Hardware & Supply Co. v. Green, supra [343 Mich.

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37 F.R.D. 343, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-general-coach-works-mied-1964.