Poehls v. Texas Employers' Insurance Ass'n

381 S.W.2d 383, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2738
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 22, 1964
DocketNo. 11218
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 381 S.W.2d 383 (Poehls v. Texas Employers' Insurance Ass'n) 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
Poehls v. Texas Employers' Insurance Ass'n, 381 S.W.2d 383, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2738 (Tex. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

HUGHES, Justice.

This is a Workmen’s Compensation case in which each party made a motion for summary judgment. The motion of appel-lee, Texas Employers’ Insurance Association, was granted. The motion of Evalyn Mae Poehis, individually and as next friend for her three minor children, appellants, was denied.

Charles Lindy Poehis, the husband and father, respectively, of appellants was ac-cidently killed on February 28, 1963, while driving a butane truck. On such date he [384]*384was employed by Eugene A. Kasberg. On such date there was in force a workmen’s compensation insurance policy issued by appellee to “Eugene A. Kasberg dba Miles Gin Company.” On such date Mr. Kasberg was the sole owner and operator of the Miles Gin Company. On such date Mr. Kasberg also operated a butane sales and service business under the name of “Kas-berg Butane Sales Company.”

Mr. Poehls worked for Mr. Kasberg in and about the gin and as a butane truck driver and route salesman. His principal duty at the gin was to haul cotton seed. This seed was purchased by Mr. Kasberg when the cotton was ginned and later sold by him to various oil mills around the country. Mr. Poehls hauled this seed to those mills. When not hauling seed, Mr. Poehls did other work about the gin. He was the only year-round employe of Mr. Kasberg.

In his butane business, Mr. Kasberg maintained regular routes. Mr. Poehls was his route salesman. His duties were to visit the various customers, check their butane storage tanks and to sell and ' deliver to them the butane needed.

The butane business is regulated by the Railroad Commission, and a license is required. Mr. Kasberg had the required license. Mr. Poehls also was required to pass an examination as a butane truck driver and he complied with this requirement.

Mr. Poehls was paid by the hour for his gin work. He was paid a commission for his work in the butane business.

Mr. Kasberg kept one set of books and made but one income tax return. He did not separate the gin business from the butane business.

Butane gas was not used as fuel for operation of the gin, although a small amount of butane was used in a tractor used for gin purposes. This butane was obtained from a bob-tail unit used in the butane business.

Mr. Kasberg testified:
“Q Mr. Kasberg, is there any necessity in the operation of your gin for you to also make butane sales to farmers?
“A I use that butane sales to keep in contact with farmers through the year, and that way I get the ginning from them in the Fall.
“Q You also make a profit on your butane sales?
“A Oh, yes.
“Q Many gins are operated without selling them butane, are they not?
“A Oh, Yes.
“Q And you could very well operate your gin without making butane sales ?
“A Yes.
“Q And you could very well operate the gin without making butane deliveries to farmers, could you not?
“A Yes.”

When killed, Mr. Poehls was driving a butane truck owned by Mr. Kasberg and he was then engaged in servicing the route as a salesman for Mr. Kasberg.

The Railroad Commission of Texas requires a butane operator to carry either workmen’s compensation insurance or liability insurance on his employes. Mr. Poehls was the only employe which Mr. Kasberg had in his butane business and he carried employer’s liability insurance on Mr. Poehls with the Western Alliance Insurance Company. This policy was issued to “Eugene A. Kasberg dba Kasberg Butane Sales Company” and the classification of operations covered by it include the work in which Mr. Poehls was engaged at the time of his death. This policy bore a Dividend Risk Endorsement which expressly excluded from its coverage operations of the insured in the business of “Cotton Gins.”

[385]*385The policy in suit, issued by appellee, was a workmen’s compensation insurance policy issued to Eugene A. Kasberg dba .Miles Gin Company, as the insured, and it insured the employes of Mr. Kasberg falling within this “classification of operations: ”

“0401 — Cotton Gins. — all employees, engaged in the operation of gin, installation and repair of equipment, maintenance and repair of buildings including clerical, yardmen, seed and fuel haulers. $3,000.00 9.26 277.80
“The intent of the above wording is to include at one rate, clerical and/or drivers payroll as well as the payroll of every person employed in or about the gin both during the ginning season and the dormant season.”

This policy had a Divided Risk Endorsement which reads, in part :•

“OPERATIONS EXCLUDED:
“1. Operations in a business separate from the business in which the Texas operations described in the declarations are conducted:
“2. Operations in the business described in the declarations but covered by the policy of another insurer:
“ ‘Operations of Eugene Kasberg dba Kasberg Butane’ (Dealers National Ins., Policy WC-504409, May 24, 1962/63.”

The reference to the Dealers National Insurance Company policy in the above endorsement is inaccurate in reciting the policy number. Then in force was Dealers National Insurance Company policy No. W.C.204409. This policy had attached a Divided Risk Endorsement which read, in part: “OPERATIONS EXCLUDED 1. Operations in a business separate from the business in which Texas operations in the declarations are conducted: Cotton Gins.”

As previously stated, the insurance policy in force covering the employes (1) of Mr. Kasberg in his butane business, at the time of Mr. Poehl’s death, was with Western Alliance Insurance Company.

Appellants would have us convert the Divided. Risk Endorsement purporting to exclude certain- operations recited to be described in the policy declarations but covered by other insurance into an endorsement including those operations. Their reasons for so doing are that the Dealers policy referred to was not and never had been in existence and such endorsement, prepared by appellee, constituted a .recognition and admission by appellee that Mr. Kasberg had only one business -and Mr. Poehls was within the coverage of the policy in suit.

We cannot subscribe to either of these contentions. The obvious purpose of the endorsement was to exclude business operations in which Mr. Kasberg was engaged which were “covered by the policy of another insurer.” These operations were expressly stated in the endorsement to be the operations of Mr. Kasberg “dba ’Kas-berg Butane.” The fact that the endorsement gave :an incorrect number to the policy then in force and that the insurance carrier for. Mr. Kasberg’s butane business was sub[386]*386sequently changed is, in our opinion, immaterial and insufficient to alter the plainly stated purpose of the endorsement. The name of the insurance carrier and the number of the policy were but incidental to the objective of the endorsement.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Williams v. State
605 A.2d 103 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
381 S.W.2d 383, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/poehls-v-texas-employers-insurance-assn-texapp-1964.