Maryland Casualty Co v. Commonwealth Cotton Oil Co.

1936 OK 445, 59 P.2d 768, 177 Okla. 374, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 689
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided June 16, 1936·No. No. 26758.·Published

Opinion

WELCH, J.

Plaintiff brought suit to recover an alleged balance of premiums due on two policies of workmens compensation insurance written for the defendant covering the policy year periods from July 30, 1931, to July 30, 1932, and July 30, 1932, to July 30, 1933, respectively. The defendant denied any further liability and filed its cross-petition claiming a rebate of premiums as a result of overpayment thereof. A jury was waived and upon trial to the court plaintiff was denied relief, and the defendant recovered judgment as prayed in its cross-petition, and plaintiff has appealed.

The plaintiff’s principal assignments of error are argued under its proposition “that the verdict of judgment rendered by the trial court was contrary to law.” In considering that proposition we are governed by the rule announced in paragraph one of the syllabus in Schafer et al. v. Lee, 64 Okla. 106, 166 P. 94, as follows:

“Where a case is tried to the court without a jury, the findings of the court upon disputed questions of fact will be given the same weight and effect as the verdict of a jury, and, where reasonably supported by the evidence, will not be disturbed in the Supreme Court.”

And to the same effect, see Stone v. Stone, 66 Okla. 123, 168 P. 423; Scott v. Iman, 74 Okla. 13, 176 P. 81; Ward v. Feldman, 122 Okla. 176, 253 P. 51.

The evidence supports the following statement of facts: Plaintiff is a corporation engaged in the business of writing policies of workmen’s compensation insurance within this state. The defendant corporation operates a cotton seed oil mill and some 16 or 18 cotton gins located at various points within the state, and is an employer of numerous persons within the terms of the Workmen’s Compensation Law of this state. The plaintiff, through its local agent at Cushing, where the defendant’s principal office is located, solicited of the defendant the writing of its employees’ liability insurance. It appears that prior thereto the defendant had carried such insurance with other companies, and its employees, designated as “gin managers,” had been classified as clerical employees in the matter of calculating the rate of premium to be charged upon the policies with reference to such employees. Plaintiff’s local agent and the defendant’s managing agent, upon such solicitation, discussed such classification, and upon agreement of the defendant to purchase plaintiff’s policy it was understood that such employees would be so classified in calculating the premiums to be paid under the policy to be issued by the plaintiff. .

The policy was issued by the plaintiff and delivered to and accepted by the defendant upon a down payment or “advance deposit premium of $600.” The terms of the policy provided that a report would be made to plaintiff quarterly throughout the policy year showing the number of employees, character of their employment, and the amount of their compensation, and that the books, records, plants, and premises would be open at all reasonable times to investigation and inspection by the plaintiff’s auditors and agents.

It was further provided that the final amount of premium due under the policy should be calculated from these reports and audits, and paid quarterly. The policy further provided that the premium rates should be calculated as prescribed by the Oklahoma Workmen’s Compensation Insurance Manual. This manual prescribed the premium rates to be charged with reference to the various classifications of employees as established by the State Insurance Board. Thereafter such quarterly reports were made during the entire period covered by the policies involved. Most of these quarterly reports were prepared by or in collaboration with a duly authorized auditor of the plaintiff company upon his personal appearance at the office of the defendant in Cushing, and payment of premium was made in accordance with such reports and audits, which classified the gin managers as “clerical employees” with no question being raised relative thereto by either of the parties. Several months after expiration of the second policy, plaintiff’s auditor, who was a different man than the one who had previously audited the reports, accounts, and *376 books of the defendant for plaintiff, appeared at the defendant’s office in Cushing for the purpose of making a final audit in connection with the second policy. Upon completion of this audit there arose the first dispute between the parties here. At that time the plaintiff’s auditor took the position that under the policy and under the Workmen’s Compensation Manual the plaintiff’s employees designated as “gin managers” should be classified along with the regular cotton gin laborers and workmen.

Such classification carried a premium rate, as prescribed by the manual, of 7.158 per $100 per month salary. On the other hand, the defendant contended that such “gin managers” should be and were in fact classified as “clerical employees,” which classification under the manual appears to have carried the rate of .066. Other facts will appear in our discussion.

Plaintiff’s theory is that the insurance contract and the Compensation Insurance Manual, when construed together, result in a specific agreement on the part of the insured to pay 7.158 per $100 per month remuneration for each employee termed in our discussion “gin managers” and that by reason of such agreement the defendant is liable for the amount sued for. Defendant’s theory is that a proper construction of the rates and classifications contained in the manual, together with the Workmen’s Compensation Law, results in properly classifying said gin managers as “clerical employees,” and therefore subject to the prescribed rate of .066. It is admitted that if calculation of the premium is made at 7.158, the plaintiff should recover $1,085, and that if calculated at the rate of .066, the defendant should recover $630.24.

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Maryland Casualty Co v. Commonwealth Cotton Oil Co., 1936 OK 445, 59 P.2d 768, 177 Okla. 374, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 689 (Okla. 1936).

1936 OK 445 (Maryland Casualty Co v. Commonwealth Cotton Oil Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Schafer v. Lee
1917 OK 198 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1917)
Ward v. Feldman
1927 OK 28 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1927)
Scott v. Iman
1918 OK 620 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1918)
Stone v. Stone
1917 OK 505 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1917)