Price Field Pilots Club, Inc. v. Lee

69 Ohio Law. Abs. 216, 1954 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 339
CourtCourt of Common Pleas of Ohio, Franklin County, Civil Division
DecidedOctober 5, 1954
DocketNo. 185365
StatusPublished

This text of 69 Ohio Law. Abs. 216 (Price Field Pilots Club, Inc. v. Lee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Franklin County, Civil Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Price Field Pilots Club, Inc. v. Lee, 69 Ohio Law. Abs. 216, 1954 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 339 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1954).

Opinion

[218]*218OPINION

By BARTLETT, J.

The motion is sustained to strike from the petition the words, (a) “negligently” and (b) “not only from the negligent and careless operation of the aircraft by the defendant.” There must be allegations of the facts upon which the conclusion rests, if the conclusion be pleaded.

(c) The motion is overruled to strike from the petition the words: “That as provided in said article, a meeting of the club was held, upon notice, attended by the defendant, and it was determined by the club membership, following investigation, as provided, that the accident was the result of the defendant Earl M. Lee’s negligence and his violation of said regulations.”

This allegation is a proper and essential pleading of the meeting of the members of the Club on notice, attended by the defendant member, in which the members of the Club, after investigation and hearing, determined, as provided by the by-laws of the Club, that the damage to the airplane resulted from the negligence of the defendant and his violation of the air Regulations in the operation of said airplane, and made an award against him in favor of the club. The issue thus made must be met by the defendant member, if not true by a denial, or if true, by pleading new matter which does not now appear of record, to impeach or avoid the effect thereof.

The motion is sustained to make the petition definite and certain: (a) as to what acts of the defendant are claimed to be negligent, (b) local regulations claimed defendant violated, (c) Civil Air Regulations claimed he violated.

This motion is sustained in full for the reasons set forth in No. 4 and 5, supra.

Plaintiff, a corporation not for profit, was the owner of an Aeronca Sedan Aircraft, and the defendant is a member of said corporation.

On March 8, 1952, defendant was piloting said airplane of plaintiff and attempted to land at the Titusville, Florida, airport, and in doing so, damaged said airplane beyond repair. The value of the plane is averred to have been $2492.00 and its salvage value $350.00 after the crash.

Petition avers “said damage resulted not only from the [219]*219negligent and careless operation of the aircraft by the defendant, but also resulted from violation by him of the Civil Air Regulations and local regulations.”

The petition sets forth certain by-laws of plaintiff corporation, pertinent parts of which are as follows:

“a. If any accident is caused through violation of Civil Air Regulations or local regulations, the member at fault shall be responsible for the uninsured portion of the damages.”
“b. Any member is liable to the Club for any damage resulting from his own carelessness or negligence.”
“d. In case of doubt as to the cause of an accident, a meeting will be called by officers and members of the Club to decide on the case in question.”

The petition avers a meeting of the Club was held as provided in said by-law, upon notice, attended by defendant, and it was determined by the Club membership, following investigation, that the accident was the result of defendant’s negligence and his violation of said regulations. The petition prays judgment for $2142.00 and costs.

A motion was filed by counsel for defendant to strike from the petition (a) the words: “intelligently” (should be “negligently”), and (b) “not only from the negligent and careless operation of the aircraft by the defendant,” and also, to strike out entirely the averments that a meeting of the Club was held on notice, attended by defendant, and the membership determined that the accident was the result of defendant’s negligence and his violation of said air Regulations.

Counsel for defendant also filed a motion to make the petition definite and certain by stating:

(a) What acts of defendant were negligent,

(b) What local regulations defendant violated, and

(c) What Civil Air Regulations defendant violated.

Counsel for the plaintiff countered in his brief saying that the novel question presented in the instant case, cannot be settled by the commonly accepted rules of negligence pleading; and that the defendant’s liability is based on his contractual obligation as a member of the plaintiff corporation to be bound by the by-laws of such Club, although his liability resulted from his negligence.

“It is a well-settled principle of law, recognized by the courts of this state and by the courts of other states, that the members of a fraternal association by adopting a constitution and by-laws and providing reasonable rules and regulations for settling their own disputes, and by establishing their own tribunals of original, intermediate, and appellate jurisdiction, become bound thereby, provided such constitution, by-laws, rules, and regulations do not contravene the laws of [220]*220the state. It is also well settled that the members of such an association must conform to the reasonable rules and regulations thereof and must exhaust all remedies within the association and before such regularly constituted tribunals.” Per Curiam opinion in case of International Union of Steam and Operating Engineers, et al. v. Owens, 119 Oh St 94, 98.

In the foregoing case the charter of Local Union No. 293 was revoked by the General Executive Board of the international organization, due to a controversy over the calling of a strike, and immediately thereafter there was instituted a new local union known as No. 874. Substantially all the members of the old local union were transferred into the new union and Owens, as such a member of the old union, applied to the General Executive Board of said international organization, an unincorporated association, for a transfer to the new union; which the Executive Board refused, under the constitution of said International Union which authorized said Executive Board for good cause shown, or for the best interests of the union, to grant or deny such application for transfer. Owens instituted this action for mandatory injunction, to enjoin the International Union from refusing to issue such transfer. The Common Pleas Court found in favor of Owens, and upon appeal the Court of Appeals also found for him and granted such an injunction.

The Supreme Court of Ohio in the Owens case, supra, also stated in its opinion among other things as follows:

“It is conceded in the instant case that the International Union * * * is such a fraternal organization, and it must therefore be conceded that, if the defendant in error, has pursued all his remedies before the tribunals within the association, and if the duly constituted tribunals have failed to observe the constitution, by-laws, rules and regulations of the association, the defendant in error is entitled to invoke the aid of the court to compel such tribunals to accord to him those rights, if any, which are shown to have been denied.”
“We have carefully examined the record and it clearly appears that all the proceedings were regular relating to the revocation of the charter of Local Union No. 293 and the organization of Local Union No. 874. The defendant in error had full notice of and participated in those hearings, and he is precluded by the action in those matters. * * * If he desired and requested a hearing and it was not accorded to him, then a substantial right has been denied him.

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Bluebook (online)
69 Ohio Law. Abs. 216, 1954 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 339, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/price-field-pilots-club-inc-v-lee-ohctcomplfrankl-1954.