St Louis Dressed Beef Provision Company v. Maryland Casualty Company
Citation | 26 S.Ct. 400,50 L.Ed. 712,201 U.S. 173 |
Decision Date | 19 March 1906 |
Docket Number | No. 197,197 |
Parties | ST. LOUIS DRESSED BEEF & PROVISION COMPANY v. MARYLAND CASUALTY COMPANY |
Court | United States Supreme Court |
This case was brought here on the following certificate:
'The judgment which the writ of error challenges sustained a demurrer to the petition and dismissed the action. The plaintiff in its petition alleged the existence of these facts: The plaintiff is a corporation of the state of Missouri, and the defendant is a corporation of the state of Maryland. On June 16, 1900, the defendant, in consideration of the payment of $168, issued to the plaintiff a policy which contained these provisions: 'In consideration of the application for this policy, a copy of which is hereto attached and which is made part of this contract, and of one hundred sixty-eight dollars ($168) premium, Maryland Casualty Company, of Baltimore, Maryland (hereinafter called 'the company'), does hereby agree to indemnify St. Louis Dressed Beef & Provision Company of St. Louis, county of _____, state of Missouri, hereinafter called 'the assured,' for the term of one year, beginning on the 5th day of July, 1900, at noon, and ending on the 5th day of July, 1901, at noon, standard time, at the place where this policy has been countersigned, against loss from common-law or statutory liability for damages on account of bodily injuries, fatal or nonfatal, accidentally suffered by any person or persons, and caused through the negligence of the assured, by means of the horses or vehicles in his services, and the use thereof, as described in the application, and while in the charge of the assured or his employees. Provided, however, that:
'On May 25, 1901, the plaintiff became liable for damages on account of bodily injuries accidentally suffered by Mrs. Nellie Heideman, and caused through the negligence of the plaintiff by means of a horse and vehicle in its service and the use thereof, as described in the application for the policy, and while in charge of one John Berry, who was one of the plaintiff's employees. The plaintiff immediately gave the defendant notice of the accident and of the fact that Nellie Heideman made a claim against the plaintiff for damages on account of the bodily injuries she had suffered from the accident, and that Henry Heideman, her husband, also made a claim for damages against it on account of the loss of the services of ihs wife and of the expenses of physicians and nurses which resulted to him from her bodily injuries. On August 16, 1901, the defendant notified the plaintiff that it denied that it was liable to it on account of the damages resulting from the accident under its policy because, as it alleged, the driver of the plaintiff's wagon was not an employee of the plaintiff, but the fact was that this driver was an employee of the plaintiff, and the accident and the damages were covered by the policy. On November 23, 1901, Nellie Heideman sued the plaintiff for $10,000 damages on account of the bodily injuries to her caused by the negligence of the plaintiff's driver and by the accident, and Henry Heideman brought an action against it for $3,000 damages, which he alleged he sustained from the same cause. On November 29, 1901, the plaintiff in writing notified the defendant of the commencement of these suits, and requested it to undertake the defense of said suits as its said policy provides it would do. But the defendant declined to undertake the defense, upon the alleged ground that its policy did not cover the accident or the claims, while the fact was that it covered both. The injuries to Mrs. Heideman were, among thers, the breaking of her right hipjoint socket bone, were serious and permanent, and the plaintiff was liable for damages in each of the suits. It feared heavy judgments if the actions were permitted to proceed to trial. Thereupon, on April 15, 1902, it compromised the suits, and paid Mrs. Heideman $2,000 damages and her husband $500 damages on account of the injuries caused by the accident and the negligence of its driver.
'The petition also contained the following averments: ...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Griggs v. Bertram
...by showing that the settlement was unreasonable or in bad faith. E.g., St. Louis Dressed Beef & Provision Co. v. Maryland Casualty Co., 201 U.S. 173, 182, 26 S.Ct. 400, 403, 50 L.Ed. 712, 717 (1906); Boutwell v. Employers' Liability Assurance Corp., 175 F.2d 597, 601 (5 Cir. 1949); Kershaw ......
-
Auto Mut. Indem. Co. v. Shaw
......Shaw against the Auto Mutual Indemnity Company on an. insurance policy, which was given to ... on said bond? A provision of the policy is that the assured. shall not ... Circuit, in the case of Ohio Casualty Ins. Co. v. Beckwith, 74 F.2d 75, speaking for ... furnish. St. Louis Dressed Beef, etc., Co. v. Maryland. Casualty ......
-
Xebec Development Partners, Ltd. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co.
...to the extent that the insured "could not expect to escape at less cost by defending the suits" (St. Louis Beef Co. v. Casualty Co. (1906) 201 U.S. 173, 182, 26 S.Ct. 400, 404, 50 L.Ed. 712), and that the insured must settle upon "the best terms possible" (Zander v. Texaco, Inc. (1968) 259 ......
-
Kinesoft Development Corp. v. Softbank Holdings
...difference between these rationales." See FARNSWORTH ON CONTRACTS, § 8.6,at 431 n. 1 (citing St. Louis Beef Co. v. Maryland Cas. Co., 201 U.S. 173, 26 S.Ct. 400, 50 L.Ed. 712 (1906) (Holmes, J.)). Excuse by breach "may take the form of nonperformance, either by prevention or by failure to c......