Insurance Co. of North America v. Fredonia State Bank

469 S.W.2d 248, 1971 Tex. App. LEXIS 2531
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 24, 1971
Docket549
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 469 S.W.2d 248 (Insurance Co. of North America v. Fredonia State Bank) 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
Insurance Co. of North America v. Fredonia State Bank, 469 S.W.2d 248, 1971 Tex. App. LEXIS 2531 (Tex. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

MOORE, Justice.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment. The present controversy is but a phase of the entire litigation arising out of the alleged frauds connected with the ultimate collapse of Sacul State Bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (hereinafter referred to as F.D.I.C.) was appointed receiver of Sacul State Bank and in that capacity filed suit against Insurance Company of North America seeking recovery on the Banker’s Blanket Bond issued by the insurance company covering the fidelity of A. J. Gordon, Sacul’s executive vice president. Insurance Company of North America, appellant, in turn, filed a third party claim against Fredonia State Bank, appellee, alleging that Fredonia participated in a part of the losses accruing to the Sacul State Bank for which the F. D.I.C. sought recovery against appellant. For convenience the parties will sometimes be hereinafter referred to as “F.D.I.C.”, “Sacul”, “Fredonia”, and “the insurance company”.

In the main suit F.D.I.C. sued the insurance company alleging fraud and infidelity on the part of A. J. Gordon, executive vice president of the Sacul Bank in misappropriating certain funds of the bank by withdrawing funds on deposit with the nearby Fredonia State Bank in Nacogdoches. Specifically, the F.D.I.C. alleged that on June 23, 1967, (one day before the bank was closed by the State Banking Commissioner), Gordon withdrew $7,000.00 from the account at the Fredonia State Bank and converted the funds to his own use, and sought recovery upon the bond.

Appellant Insurance Company of North America answered the F.D.I.C. suit and then filed a third party action against ap-pellee Fredonia State Bank alleging that if the facts as stated by the F.D.I.C. were true and correct, then Sacul had a cause of action against Fredonia for wrongfully allowing Gordon to withdraw the funds, to which Insurance Company of North America was subrogated and prayed for indemnity. Specifically, the insurance company alleged it was entitled to indemnity from Fredonia because first, A. J. Gordon, as executive vice president, had not been properly authorized by the Sacul Bank to withdraw the funds and, secondly Fredonia breached its contract of deposit in permitting A. J. Gordon to withdraw funds since he was not among those authorized to withdraw funds as shown on the signature card on file with Fredonia Bank.

Fredonia’s motion for summary judgment was heard upon the stipulations of the parties, together with two affidavits by Rowland Vannoy, executive vice president of Fredonia State Bank and the deposition testimony of Rowland Vannoy, as well as the deposition testimony of Charles T. Phillips, director of Sacul, Charles Owen Melder, president and director of Sacul and A. J. Gordon, executive vice president of Sacul.

After a hearing on the motion, an interlocutory summary judgment was entered on behalf of Fredonia. Thereafter, upon a *251 trial of the main suit the trial court entered a final judgment in which the F.D.I. C. was awarded, among other things, judgment against Insurance Company of North America for the $7,000.00 Gordon withdrew from Fredonia, apparently finding that Gordon misappropriated the funds. It is from this portion of the final judgment discharging Fredonia from liability by a summary judgment, that appellant, Insurance Company of North America, has appealed. We affirm the ruling of the trial court.

By a single point of error, appellant urges that the summary judgment must be reversed because the evidence fails to show Gordon had neither actual nor apparent authority to withdraw Sacul’s funds from Fredonia. Appellant says that the evidence tending to demonstrate authority was, at most, sufficient only to raise a question of fact and therefore the summary judgment cannot stand.

A summary judgment disposing of the entire action on its merits is proper only when it is shown that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The movant is required to carry the burden of establishing the absence of any such issue; and in determining whether the movant has discharged such burden, the court must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion, accepting as true all evidence which tends to support his position. The ultimate question is whether the summary judgment proof establishes as a matter of law that there is no genuine issue of fact. Rule 166-A, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure; McDonald, Texas Civil Practice, Vol. 4, sec. 17.26; Rosas v. Doreen, 402 S.W.2d 813 (Tex.Civ.App., Dallas, 1966); Gibbs v. General Motors Corporation, 450 S.W.2d 827 (Tex.1970).

The undisputed evidence shows that both the Sacul Bank and the Fredonia Bank were situated in Nacogdoches County approximately twenty miles apart. Several months prior to the transaction in question, A. J. Gordon commenced negotiating for controlling interest in the Sacul Bank. Prior to the time he withdrew the funds in question on June 23, 1967, he had acquired approximately fifty-two percent of the bank stock. Subsequent to his gaining control, the Board of Directors discharged the president of the Sacul Bank and elected Charles O. Melder to that position. Mr. Melder, who resided in Houston, was never active in the bank. Approximately two months prior to the withdrawal of the funds in question, Sacul’s Board of Directors elected A. J. Gordon as executive vice president. The minutes recited that he was to have “the rights and duties appertaining thereto” and was to be reimbursed for expenses incurred in connection with the performance of his duties. The record further shows that for a considerable time Sacul Bank had carried a deposit with the Fredonia Bank, and had made the withdrawals and deposits from time to time in the regular course of business. At the time Gordon withdrew the funds in question, Fredonia Bank had on file an old signature card authorizing its former president, Perry Schuller, as well as several other employees, to withdraw funds on behalf of the bank. The card did not contain the name of A. J. Gordon, nor is there any other evidence in the record, showing that Sacul ever specifically authorized him to withdraw these funds. Gordon testified that after he was elected executive vice president, he temporarily lived in a motel in Nacogdoches, Texas, and conducted business for the bank, making several loans in its behalf. Rowland Vannoy, executive vice president of the Fredonia Bank, testified that after Mr. Gordon had bought control of the bank, Perry Schuller, former president of Sacul, introduced Mr. Gordon to him stating he was the man who had acquired a majority of the stock in the bank. Vannoy also stated in his affidavit that K. D. McAdams, an employee of Fredonia who handled the Sacul account, had reported to him in the regular course of business that A. J. Gordon had been appointed exec *252 utive vice president of Sacul. Two of the bank’s directors testified that upon being elected executive vice president of the bank, Gordon became the chief executive officer of the bank and took charge of all operations of the bank.

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Bluebook (online)
469 S.W.2d 248, 1971 Tex. App. LEXIS 2531, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/insurance-co-of-north-america-v-fredonia-state-bank-texapp-1971.