Miller v. Yellow Cab Co.

31 N.E.2d 406, 308 Ill. App. 217, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1071
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 22, 1941
DocketGen. No. 41,352
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 31 N.E.2d 406 (Miller v. Yellow Cab Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Yellow Cab Co., 31 N.E.2d 406, 308 Ill. App. 217, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1071 (Ill. Ct. App. 1941).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Burke

delivered the opinion of the court.

On August 11, 1938, C. W. Miller and the Western Casualty & Surety Company, a corporation, filed a two-count complaint in the circuit court of Cook county. The first count, in behalf of C. W. Miller, avers that defendant, Yellow Cab Company, is a common carrier of passengers in the city of Chicago; that on January 11, 1937, he became a passenger for hire in a cab operated by said defendant, which cab was being operated by defendant through its servant, George Barr, also a defendant; that another defendant, Charles Joyce, was the owner of a motor vehicle which was being-operated by its servant Leonard C. Joyce, another defendant, in an easterly direction on Harrison street approaching its intersection with Homan avenue; that the cab in which Miller was a passenger was being-operated by George Barr in a southerly direction on Homan avenue approaching its intersection with Harrison street; that by reason of various acts of negligence of the defendants, Miller was injured externally and internally; that at all relevant times Miller was in the exercise of due care for his own safety; and the first count concluded, “Wherefore, plaintiff, C. W. Miller, hereby recognizing the prior right or claim of the other plaintiff herein to $2,100.00 by virtue of an award in that amount by the Industrial Accident Board of Texas under the Texas Workmens’ Compensation Law, asks judgment against the defendants, Yellow Cab Company, a corporation, George Barr, Leonard C. Joyce and Charles Joyce for $25,000.00.” Count 2, in behalf of the Western Casualty & Surety Company, a corporation, adopted the allegations of count 1, and in addition averred that the injuries sustained by Miller were accidental injuries arising- out of and suffered in the course of his employment as an employee of Sears, Roebuck & Company, a corporation, in the State of Texas, and that said injuries were such as to warrant compensation to Miller under the Workmen’s Compensation law of Texas; that such injuries were not proximately caused by the negligence of the employer or Miller or any of its employees, or by plaintiff, the Western Casualty & Surety Company, but were caused under circumstances creating a legal liability for damages on the part of the defendants; that on February 9, 1937, Miller filed before the Industrial Accident Board of the State of Texas a claim for compensation for the injuries against Sears Roebuck & Company; that on or about February 9, 1938, the board entered an order approving a settlement agreement under and by virtue of which the Western Casualty & Surety Company paid to Miller the sum of $2,100 for and on behalf of his employer; that by virtue of the order of the Industrial Accident Board of the State of Texas, the Western Casualty & Surety Company thereupon “became and was and still is” subrogated to certain rights of Miller; that it “now joins in this suit as said subrogee and hereby asserts its prior claim against the defendants herein named to the $2,100.00 payable for injuries received by said plaintiff, C. W. Miller.” This count concluded by asking that judgment be entered in favor of the Western Casualty & Surety Company and against the defendants in the sum of $2,100. In the original complaint Lederer, Livingston, Kahn, Adler & Adsit and A. B. Litow appeared as attorneys for the plaintiffs. The answer of the Yellow Cab Company denied the allegations that Miller was in the exercise- of due care and denied that defendants were guilty of any of the acts of negligence charged. The answer also denied that the corporate plaintiff was entitled to recover any sum. The answer further asserted that the action could not be maintained because the defendant Yellow Cab Company was operating under the provisions of the Illinois Workmen’s Compensation Act, and that at the time of the injury Miller was an employee of Sears, Roebuck & Company and that the injury occurred in the course of his employment; that Sears, Roebuck & Company was likewise under the provisions of the Illinois Compensation. Act; that the injury occurred in Illinois, and that by reason of the provisions of sections 6 and 29 of the Illinois Workmen’s Compensation Act, Miller could not maintain his action. The plaintiffs moved to strike the answer of the Yellow Cab Company. On October 27, 1938, “on motion of plaintiffs” the court struck count 2 of the complaint, also all the answers, granted leave to plaintiffs to amend count 1 of the complaint within 10 days, and directed all defendants to answer the complaint as amended within 10 days thereafter. The amended complaint was filed in behalf of C. W. Miller against all of the defendants. This amended complaint was similar to the first count of the original complaint. It did not, however, mention the payment of $2,100 by virtue of an award by the Industrial Accident Board of Texas. On November 17, 1938, on motion of “Lederer, Livingston, Kahn, Adler & Adsit, Attorneys for plaintiff C. W. Miller,” the Western Casualty & Surety Company was dismissed as a party plaintiff, and A. B. Litow was permitted to withdraw as co-counsel for plaintiffs. On November 30, 1938, the Yellow Cab Company filed an answer to the amended complaint. The answer reasserts the defense theretofore made. On motion of plaintiff, certain portions of this answer were stricken, whereupon an amended answer to the amended complaint was filed. A motion by plaintiff to strike the amended answer of the corporate defendant was denied. Plaintiff thereupon filed a reply that he is and has been for the past five years a resident of the State of Texas; that he is an employee of Sears, Roebuck & Company, a corporation, organized under the laws of the State of New York and having places of business in various Statés of the Union, including New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and Texas; that said corporation is engaged in the mail order and chain merchandise business throughout the various States; that he was employed for the specific purpose of managing the store of his employer at San Antonio, Texas, and that this was his sole employment; that his contract of employment was made in the city of San Antonio, Texas; the place of his residence, and the place where his services were to be rendered; that the defendant was incorporated under the laws of the State of Maine and conducts the business of a common carrier in the city of Chicago; that on January 11, 1937, plaintiff traveled from his home in San Antonio, Texas, to the city of Chicago and there became a passenger for hire in a taxicab, and while such passenger he was injured as complained of in the amended complaint; that while he was in the city of Chicago he had no services to render to his employer and did not eng'age in any services except that he intended to consult the president or other executive of his employer concerning matters relative to the business under his management in San Antonio; that his trip to Chicago was not a usual concomitant of the business in which he was engaged, and that the said conference was purely casual in nature and would last only a part of the day, and that he did not visit Chicago more than once or twice a year. Plaintiff states that the employees of Sears, Boebuck & Company engaged in its business in the State of Texas are under the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of that State, and denies that employees of Sears, Boebuck & Company whose places of employment are in the State of Texas and who are residents of the State of Texas, are under the provisions of the Illinois Workmen’s Compensation Act.

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Bluebook (online)
31 N.E.2d 406, 308 Ill. App. 217, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1071, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-yellow-cab-co-illappct-1941.