Rickenbaker v. Layton

59 F. Supp. 156, 1945 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2512
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. South Carolina
DecidedMarch 8, 1945
DocketCivil Action No. 1068
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 59 F. Supp. 156 (Rickenbaker v. Layton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rickenbaker v. Layton, 59 F. Supp. 156, 1945 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2512 (southcarolinaed 1945).

Opinion

TIMMERMAN, District Judge.

This case has been tried before; the first time, approximately a year ago. D.C., 58 F.Supp. 452. It is a law case. The judgment entered on the first trial was reversed pro tanto. 4 Cir., 146 F.2d 751, 752. The history of the case is fully stated in the above citations. It will avail little, if anything, to repeat at length what was said in prior opinions. However, some reference will be made thereto in what follows.

Upon the first trial, both in consequence of the pleadings and of a stipulation duly agreed to, the only contested issue was as to which of two policies of automobile insurance was of force on the 15th day of January, 1940, the date of alleged injuries sustained by plaintiff in an automobile accident. The first policy unquestionably was issued on the 20th day of May, 1939, to run for a period of one year, and it covered the automobile concerned in said accident. The other policy allegedly was issued as of date December 31, 1939, to run for a like period, and in cancellation of the first policy. The stipulation of the defendant Casualty Company admitted liability for the injuries sustained by plaintiff, if the first policy was in force on the date of the accident; and, in effect, so did the answer of said defendant.

It was held on the first trial that the policy of May 20, 1939, was of force on the date of said accident; and accordingly judgments were entered against the defendant Casualty Company for agreed amounts. There was no issue as to the amounts due to the plaintiff and the defendant Layton, respectively, if liability existed under either policy.

The Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed so much of this Court’s opinion as held that the first policy was in force and effect on the date of the accident in question, saying:

“The attention of the parties was thus centered on the issue of cancellation as they proceeded to trial. The evidence on the point was conflicting but the District Judge reached the conclusion that the old policy was in force when the accident occurred. There was substantial and persuasive testimony to support this conclusion and we need not review it, for a finding of fact by a District Judge in an action tried without a jury should not be set aside uñder Rule 52(a) of the Rules of Civil Procedure * * * unless it is clearly erroneous, and in any view of the testimony it cannot be said that there was clear error in this instance.”

The occasion for the reversal of one of the original holdings of this Court was a motion by the defendant Casualty Company, made at the close of the first trial, (a) to amend its answer by conforming it to certain proof developed on said trial, and (b) to continue the-trial to a subsequent date to allow the Casualty Company time within which to assemble proof, if it could, to show that its first policy of insurance contained an exclusionary provision relieving it of' liability for the accident in question.

At the time said motion was made there was no testimony before the Court to indicate that the policy of May 20, 1939, was anything more than a general coverage policy or that it contained an exclusionary provision which conceivably might relieve .the Casualty Company of liability under the facts to which it desired to conform its answer. For that reason and on account of the palpable laches of the Casualty Company (not its attorneys in the instant case), the motion was refused, and judgment was then entered as aforestated. It was this holding that was reversed, the Appellate Court saying, in part:

“These observations of the judge are not without foundation; and as a motion to amend the pleadings and introduce additional evidence during the course of a trial is a matter addressed to the sound discretion of the judge, his ruling here would be conclusive were it not for the fact that it may result in manifest injustice and impose a liability upon the [158]*158Casualty Company which it did not assume in its contract.” (Emphasis added)

-The ultimate conclusion of the Appellate Court is stated in these words:

“The judgment of the District Court will be reversed, and the case remanded for a new trial at which the court will be free to find whether or not Rickenbaker was an employee of the insured and whether or not there was any liability under the policy of May 20, 1939.”

Thus it will be seen that this case has been remanded to this Court to settle two issues, neither of which was made in the original pleadings, to-wit: (a) “whether or not the” plaintiff, at the.time of the accident in question, “was an employee of the insured,” the defendant Layton; and (b) “whether or not there was any liability under the policy of May 20, 1939,” the referred to first policy.

Upon the second or present trial hereof the following facts, as found on the first trial, are accepted as established, to-wit:

(a) That the plaintiff recovered judgment in the State Court against the defendant Layton for his injuries sustained in said accident, as alleged in the complaint herein;

(b) That the defendant Layton is entitled to judgment against the defendant Casualty Company for attorneys fees incurred in the said State Court action in the agreed sum of $400, provided it is determined that the Casualty Company is liable on the main issue, that is, if the Casualty Company is liable under its policy of May 20, 1939, for the injuries sustained by the plaintiff in said accident; and

(c) That the Casualty Company’s policy dated May 20, 1939, was of force on the 15th day of January, 1940, the date on which the plaintiff was injured while riding in the insured automobile of the defendant Layton, which said injuries were the basis of the aforesaid judgment obtained in the State Court.

The defendant Casualty Company has now offered secondary evidence of the policy of May 20, 1939. The provision in said policy upon which the Casualty Company relies to sustain its present denial of liability reads as follows:

“This policy does not apply * * * (e) under Coverage A, to bodily injury to or death of any employee of the insured while engaged in the business of the insured, other than ■ domestic employment, or in the operation, maintenance or repair of the automobile; or to any obligation for which the insured may be held liable under any workmen’s compensation law.” (Taken from p. 13 of the transcript of testimony)

The meaning of the quoted paragraph of the policy is perfectly clear; and under it, if the plaintiff Rickenbaker, at the time of his injuries, was an employee of the defendant Layton, the insured, and as such was engaged in the business of said insured, he cannot recover in' this action against the Casualty Company; and for a like reason the defendant Layton cannot recover his necessary attorney’s fee in the State Court action against said company. Hence, it follows that the only remaining issue before the Court is whether or not the plaintiff Rickenbaker was an employee of the defendant Layton, the insured, and as such was engaged about the business of said insured at the time of his injuries on January 15, 1940. This presents a clear cut and difficult issue of fact.

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Taylor v. Cummins Atlantic, Inc.
852 F. Supp. 1279 (D. South Carolina, 1994)
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258 F. Supp. 804 (W.D. Virginia, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 F. Supp. 156, 1945 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rickenbaker-v-layton-southcarolinaed-1945.