Le Blanc v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co.

13 So. 2d 245, 202 La. 857, 1943 La. LEXIS 934
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMarch 8, 1943
DocketNo. 36789.
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 13 So. 2d 245 (Le Blanc v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Le Blanc v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 13 So. 2d 245, 202 La. 857, 1943 La. LEXIS 934 (La. 1943).

Opinions

FOURNET, Justice.

Mrs. Angele Le Blanc, having been injured when the car in which she was riding with her husband collided with a Buick driven by Godfrey D. Wardrope, instituted this suit against the driver, his employer, Albert G. Thomas, and Thomas’s insurer, the New Amsterdam Casualty Company, as well as against the American Mutual Liability Insurance Company, the insurance carrier of H. T. Cottam & Co., Inc., her husband’s employer, to recover damages for the injuries sustained. During the trial of the case, Waldrope, Thomas, and the New Amsterdam Casualty Company compromised the case, leaving as the defendant the American Mutual Liability Insurance Company, against whom a judgment of $5,000 was rendered, with legal interest from judicial demand. This judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeal for the Parish of Orleans. 8 So.2d 83.

The case is now before us for a review of the appellate court’s judgment on a writ of certiorari granted upon the application of the defendant insurance company.

Counsel for defendant concede that the “accident was caused partly, if not entirely, by the negligence of Philip Le Blanc, plaintiff’s husband, and that at the time of the accident he was using his own automobile on the business of H. T. Cottam & Company,” his employer. It is also conceded that if Mrs. Le Blanc is entitled to recover, *862 the $5,000 awarded her is not excessive. But counsel, by way of exceptions of no catxse and no right of action, raised in both of the lower courts the issue that the plaintiff “cannot maintain a right of action for damages for physical injuries against the insurer of her husband’s employer, since said insurer, if held liable, could recover the damages from said husband as the subrogee of the husband’s employer, and plaintiff would thus circumvent the prohibition contained in Article 105 of the Louisiana Code of Practice against married women prosecuting suits against their husbands during coveture.”

On the merits they contend plaintiff’s husband was not an additional insurer under the provisions of the policy sued on, as held by the. Court of Appeals, since the policy covered “only the responsibility, if any, of Cottam & Company for the negligence of its employees when using their automobiles in the course of their employer’s business when the doctrine of respondeat superior applies,” arguing that for the doctrine of respondeat superior to apply in this case it was not only necessary for the plaintiff to show Le Blanc was acting within the scope of his employment and on the business of his employer at the time the accident occurred (all of which is conceded), but that it is also necessary for the court to find “Cottam had the right or power under the contract of employment, not only to direct Le Blanc in connection with his duties as a salesman for the company, but also the right or power to direct him in connection with his physical movements and the operation of his own automobile which he used in connection with his solicitation of business for the company.”

In the alternative, counsel insist that if recovery is permitted, interest should not run from judicial demand, but only from the date the judgment was rendered, as specifically provided in the policy.

The suggestion that the insurance company, subrogated to the rights of plaintiff’s husband’s employer, could sue plaintiff’s husband to recover such damages as it might be held to be liable for in this case, circumvents Article 105 of the Code of Practice which prohibits married women from suing their husbands, is without merit, for under the express provisions of Act No. 55 of 1930, the plaintiff had a right of direct action against the defendant insurance company to recover damages for the injuries sustained, which damages are, under Article 2334 of the Revised Civil Code and the jurisprudence thereunder, her separate property. Furthermore, the plea of inter-spousal immunity, available to the husband in defeating any recovery sought by his wife for injuries sustained by her through his negligent operation of an automobile, is personal to him and, therefore, not available to the insurer of the husband’s employer. See Edwards v. Royal Indemnity Co., 182 La. 171, 161 So. 191, and Ruiz v. Clancy, 182 La. 935, 162 So. 734.

The defense of the merits is> equally unimpressive, since it is based on the erroneous assumption that the H. T. Cottam Company had no power to exercise any supervision or control over Le Blanc in connection with the operation of his automobile under its contract of employment with *864 him, even when the automobile was driven by him in the course and scope of his employment, for a mere reading of the contract will show that the Cottam Company had the right to control Le Blanc’s every activity in connection with his employment. He was required to devote his entire time to his employer’s business, subject to the direction and the rules and regulations of his employer. .

Moreover, it is our opinion that Le Blanc, plaintiff’s husband, was an additional insured within the meaning and contemplation of the policy, as held by the Court of Appeals.

As was pointed out by the appellate court, “The policy issued to H. T. Cottam & Company, plaintiff’s employer, without the rider, is what is known as a ‘National Standard Automobile Liability Policy.’ It insured Cottam & Company against responsibility in damages resulting from the negligence of any person using its automobiles with its consent, whether for business or pleasure, and also covered the persons operating the automobiles. It divided the insured into two classes, the ‘named insured,’ Cottam & Company, and the unqualified insured, meaning the operators of the automobiles as appears by the following provision of the policy:

“ ‘1. Coverage A — Bodily Injury Liability.
“ ‘To pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become obligated to pay by reason of the liability imposed upon him by law for damages, including damages for care and loss of services, because of bodily injury, including death at any time resulting therefrom, sustained by any person or persons, caused by accident and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the automobile.
* ‡ Jfc # ' Sji Sjs *
“ ‘Definition of “Insured”
‘The unqualified word “insured” where-ever used in coverages A and B and in other parts of this policy, when applicable to these coverages, includes not only the named insured but also any person while using the automobile and any person or organization legally responsible for the use thereof, provided that the declared and actual use of the automobile is “pleasure and business” or “commercial”, each as defined herein, and provided further that the actual use is with the permission of the named insured. * * *’.
“The ‘Employers’ Non-Ownership Liability’ rider, which was apparently attached to the policy at the time of its issuance, reads as follows:
“ ‘It is agreed that such insurance as is afforded the named insured by the policy for Bodily Injury Liability and for Property Damage Liability applies with respect to automobiles not owned by the named insured, s' ibj ect to the following provisions :
“ T.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 So. 2d 245, 202 La. 857, 1943 La. LEXIS 934, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/le-blanc-v-new-amsterdam-casualty-co-la-1943.