Longwell v. Massachusetts Bonding & Ins. Co.

63 So. 2d 440, 1953 La. App. LEXIS 546
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 26, 1953
Docket3619
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 63 So. 2d 440 (Longwell v. Massachusetts Bonding & Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Longwell v. Massachusetts Bonding & Ins. Co., 63 So. 2d 440, 1953 La. App. LEXIS 546 (La. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinion

63 So.2d 440 (1953)

LONGWELL
v.
MASSACHUSETTS BONDING & INS. CO. et al.

No. 3619.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

January 26, 1953.
Rehearing Denied March 19, 1953.
Writ of Certiorari Denied April 27, 1953.

Adams & Reese, New Orleans, Grover C. Vidrine, Oakdale, for appellant.

A. M. D'Angelo, Alexandria, for appellees.

LOTTINGER, Judge.

This is a suit in which the plaintiff, Harry J. Longwell, seeks to recover damages in the sum of $880 for the use and benefit of the Canadian Fire Insurance Company as the result of damage caused the former's house when it was run into by a truck owned by one Roland J. Trosclair. Joined as defendants are Trosclair, Augustin Trahan, Trosclair's employee, and the Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company, Trosclair's insurer. The following facts are undisputed:

The truck was entrusted by Trosclair to Trahan on January 24, 1949, with instructions to deliver a load of shrimp to New Orleans. The employee left his employer's place of business in Cameron, proceeded to New Orleans and accomplished his mission. On his return trip, however, upon reaching the town of Kinder, instead of turning south, which would have been the normal route to Cameron, he turned north and proceeded to Oakdale. There he met one Ida Mae Smith to whom he entrusted the operation of the truck and while she was driving same with Trahan seated next to her she drove into plaintiff's house causing the damage complained of.

Apparently no answer was filed by Trahan. The remaining defendants admitted *441 that the Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company was the insurer of Trosclair and defended the suit on the following grounds:

1. That as the employee Trahan had deviated from his employment he was not acting within the course and scope thereof and consequently Trosclair could not be held liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior.

2. That the truck was being driven by Ida Mae Smith at the time of the accident, without the permission of Trosclair, and that she was not an additional insured within the terms of the insurance contract.

Since no answer had been filed by Trahan and no default entered against him, the court dismissed the case against him as of nonsuit. The suit against Trosclair individually was dismissed but judgment was rendered against the Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company in the amount prayed for, and the case is now before us on an appeal taken by the latter.

The case presents virtually no question of fact. The record discloses very clearly that the damages sued for were caused by the negligent driving of Ida Mae Smith and this point is not even mentioned by counsel for defendants in their brief. Furthermore, we believe it quite clear that Trahan was not within the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident and that, therefore the suit was properly dismissed as to his employer, Trosclair.

More difficult of solution is the liability of the remaining defendant, Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company. Counsel for plaintiff predicates his cause of action against the insurer on the ground that as Trahan had initial permission to use the truck the appellant is liable under the so called "omnibus clause" of the policy. Counsel for defendant, on the other hand, contend that as Ida Mae Smith was not given permission to use the truck by its owner, Trosclair, and that as the employee, Trahan, had no authority to grant such permission, she was not an assured within the terms of the policy. Counsel on both sides concede that this precise point is res nova in this state. The pertinent part of the omnibus clause reads as follows:

"The unqualified word `insured' includes the named insured and also includes any person while using an owned automobile or a hired automobile, and any person or organization legally responsible for the use thereof, provided the actual use of the automobile is by the named insured or with his permission, and any executive officer of the named insured, with respect to the use of a non-owned automobile in the business of the named insured." (Emphasis supplied.)

Trosclair testified that he had given Trahan, who had been in his employ several months, positive instructions never to let anyone else drive the truck involved or any of his other trucks. While this testimony is not contradicted, it was apparently discounted by the trial judge because it was not corroborated by any other evidence and because Trahan was not present to testify. We comment on this point because it is raised in the briefs of respective counsel However, in view of the holding of our Supreme Court in the case of Waits v. Indemnity Insurance Company, 215 La. 349, 40 So.2d 746, 748, the matter of instructions or violation thereof appears to be immaterial. We refer to the following language of the cited case in particular:

"Under such circumstances any instructions given Selby as to the use of the car or whether there had been a deviation from the instructions are immaterial and of no moment."

The above holding is based upon a previous holding, that in the case of Parks v. Hall, 189 La. 849, 181 So. 191, 194, wherein the Supreme Court held as follows:

"We therefore conclude that the permission of the assured to Hall to use the car in the first instance, irrespective of the use to which he put the car while in his possession, was `permission of the assured' within the meaning and contemplation of the `omnibus clause' and the insurer is therefore liable to plaintiffs thereunder." (Emphasis by the Court.)

*442 From the above authorities it is clear that 1) the matter of what instructions, if any, were given to Trahan by Trosclair is immaterial insofar as deviation from his employment is concerned, and 2) that the deviation by Trahan from the course of his employment is likewise immaterial in determining the question of the insurer's liability. The pivotal point of the case, therefore, becomes that of the effect, if any, of Trahan's allowing Ida Mae Smith to drive the truck.

While, as mentioned previously, the precise point here presented does not appear to have been heretofore passed upon by our appellate courts, we find presented in the case of Monroe v. Heard, La.App., 168 So. 519, 521, a situation which closely parallels the present case. In this suit the owner of the car, Miss Heard, loaned it to a Mrs. Perkins, who apparently had a date with a Mr. Borsum, who was driving at the time of the accident. It was alleged in the petition that Borsum was driving under the direction and control of Mrs. Perkins, who, of course, was present in the car with him. The lower court sustained an exception of no cause of action filed by Miss Heard and her insurer. This court affirmed the judgment insofar as the insured was concerned but reversed the judgment in favor of the insurer on the ground that as Mrs. Perkins had permission to use the car she was an additional insured and that the policy would cover her liability if, on the trial of the case, it should be shown that she was in control and direction of the automobile and the driver. However, in the course of the opinion, the following holding was made which is pertinent here:

"Mrs. Perkins, as to the owner, Miss Heard, was a licensee or borrower of the car. As it is alleged that the owner consented to the use of the car by Mrs. Perkins, it follows that the provisions of the policy would cover the negligence of Mrs. Perkins in the operation of the car.

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Bluebook (online)
63 So. 2d 440, 1953 La. App. LEXIS 546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/longwell-v-massachusetts-bonding-ins-co-lactapp-1953.