Southern Surety Co. v. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway Co.

187 Iowa 357
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedOctober 16, 1919
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 187 Iowa 357 (Southern Surety Co. v. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Southern Surety Co. v. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway Co., 187 Iowa 357 (iowa 1919).

Opinion

Gaynor, J.

On the 21st day of June, 1918, the plaintiff filed its petition in the district court, in which it alleges that, on the 8th day of March, 1916', one W. W. Whitney, then in the employ of Philip Bernard Company, was injured, while in the course of his employment; that the injury sustained by Whitney was caused by the negligence of the defendant herein; that thereafter, the said Whitney brought an action against this defendant, in which he recovered the sum of $2,300, and this sum was paid to Whitney by the defendant company; that, on or about March 1, 1916, and for some time pi^or thereto, this plaintiff had insured the Philip Bernard Company against any liability which might arise out of any injuries received by its employees in the course of their employment, and for which Philip Bernard Company would become liable, under the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1913 and supplement thereto; that plaintiff, under this insurance obligation to Philip Bernard Company, paid to Whitney the sum of $572.33, in compensation for loss of time and the necessary medical expenses incurred by him, under the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act.

The plaintiff claims that the defendant company, which [359]*359was the wrongdoer and caused the injury, is now liable to this plaintiff, the insurer, for the money which it paid to Whitney under its insurance obligation, and it sets out and relies upon Section 2477-m6, Code Supplement, 1913, and prays judgment against the defendant for the amount paid.

The defendant appeared and demurred to plaintiff’s petition on the following grounds:

■First. Because it appears from said petition that this action is brought to recover for personal injuries sustained by one W. W. Whitney on the 8th day of March, 1916, and the action was not begun until more than two years after said date, and said action is now barred by the statute of limitations.

. Second. Because it appears from said petition that the plaintiff was surety for the Philip Bernard Company, the employer of Whitney, and its rights are determined by the Workmen’s Compensation Act, as found in Section 2477-m6 of the Supplement of the Code of 1913. This section reads as follows:

“Where an employee coming under the provisions of this act receives an injury for which compensation is payable under this act and which injury was caused under circumstances creating a legal liability in some person other than the employer, to pay damages in respect thereof:

“(a) The employee or beneficiary may take proceedings both against that person to recover damages and against the employer for compensation, but the amount of the compensation to which he is entitled under this act shall be reduced by the amount of damages recovered.

“(b) If the employee .or beneficiary in such case recovers compensation under this act, the employer by whom the compensation was paid or the party who has been called upon to pay the compensation, shall be entitled to indemnity from the person so liable to pay damages as aforesaid, [360]*360and shall be subrogated to the rights of the employee to recover therefor.”

It further appears from said petition that Whitney proceeded against the defendant, the actual wrongdoer, and recovered the full amount of his damages from it, and for this reason the plaintiff cannot now recover anything of this defendant, but must recover from Whitney the amount of compensation alleged by it to have been paid to him.

Third. Because, under the facts disclosed in this petition, the plaintiff cannot now recover of this defendant any sum of money paid by it to Whitney, because of full payment made to Whitney of said claim, as disclosed by said petition, and it must, therefore, recover, if at all, from said Whitney.

This demurrer was sustained generally, and, the plaintiff electing to stand on its petition, and not to plead further, judgment was entered against the plaintiff for costs, and its petition dismissed. From this the plaintiff appeals.

1. Pleading : demurrer : sus- • tainable if good on any-ground. 2. Master and servant: Workmen’s ,. Compensation Act: indemnity from wrongdoer other than employer. The petition submitted to us is whether or not this demurrer is good on any of the grounds presented. If it is good .on any of the grounds, the court did not err in sustaining it. It involves only the proper construction of Section 2477-m6 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act. It is apparent from the statute that, when Whitney received his injuries, he was entitled to proceed against his employer under this act. He was entitled to receive from his employer the compensation which is provided for in the act. We must assume that the injury occurred under such circumstances that Whitney’s employer was liable to him under the act. We must assume that the compensation paid to Whitney was paid in accordance with the act. The compensation which Whitney became entitled to from his [361]*361employer, or from this insurance company, rested upon a contractual obligation to pay for injuries received under the circumstances provided for in the statute. When an injury is received under circumstances rendering the employer liable to .the injured party under the statute, nothing is left for the employer to do but to make compensation. This compensation is required to be made, though the employer is in no way negligent, and in no way liable at common law for damages. The compensation is purely statutory, and the amount of compensation is fixed by the statute. Its provisions are for the protection of the workingman, as between him and his employer, and in no way affects or controls the right of the injured party to proceed at common law against the actual wrongdoer. In an action at common law, the injured party is entitled to re-, cover all that the common law recognizes as proper to be recovered in suits of that kind. This -includes compensation for the injury, loss of time, medical care, and treatment, and all ether injuries which are shown to flow as a proximate result of the wrong done. The fact that the injured party proceeded against his employer, and secured compensation under the act, cannot be pleaded by the wrongdoer when suit at common law is instituted against him. He is liable for the full amount of the damage, regardless of any rights the injured party# has against his employer, or may have had under the act. Nowhere in the act does it say that the amount of recovery against the actual wrongdoer shall be diminished, in any degree, by the fact that the injured party has received, or may receive, compensation for some of the wrong, through his employer, under the act. The obligation of the wrongdoer is the same as if there were no Workmen’s Compensation Act, Compensation is one thing, and damages another. He recovers from the wrongdoer all the damages that he sustained by reason of its wrongful act. He recovers only [362]*362such compensation from his employer as is provided for in the statute. The statute does not say that the amount which the wi’ongdoer is required to pay to the injured party shall be reduced by the amount of compensation paid under this act. It says that the amount of compensation shall be reduced by the amount recovered as damages at common law from the party that caused the injury.

Now let us see where we are at: The injured party brings an action, at common law, against the actual wrongdoer, and recovers for all the wrong, presumably, that he has suffered.

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Bluebook (online)
187 Iowa 357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southern-surety-co-v-chicago-st-paul-minneapolis-omaha-railway-co-iowa-1919.