Carney v. New York Life Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 17 April 1900 |
| Citation | 162 N.Y. 453,57 N.E. 78 |
| Parties | CARNEY v. NEW YORK LIFE INS. CO. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from supreme court, appellate division, First department.
Action by Sidney H. Carney, Sr., against the New York Life Insurance Company. From a judgment of the appellate division (45 N. Y. Supp. 1103) affirming a judgment dismissing the complaint on the opening of plaintiff's counsel, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.
James D. Fessenden, for appellant.
William B. Hornblower, for respondent.
The action was brought to recover damages for a breach of contract of employment. The plaintiff's counsel, in his opening, repeated the allegations of his complaint, which were, in substance, that in December, 1869, the president and actuary of the defendant entered into an oral contract with the plaintiff, by the terms of which he was to enter the employment of the defendant in a medical capacity, and that such employment should continue during his life; that for the first year his salary should be $5,000, the second year $5,500, and the third year $6,000, and that it was to remain at that figure until changed by the parties; that, pursuant to such contract, he entered the employment of the defendant, which continued until the year 1895, with a salary which was increased from time to time until it reached $12,000 per annum; and that on the 20th day of June, 1895, he was wrongfully discharged. The complaint further alleged that the board of trustees had adopted a by-law which was in force at the time of the making of the contract in 1869, by which the president and actuary were empowered ‘to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of each and every person, except agents, employed by the company.’ He demanded as damages $168,000. The answer denied that the contract was for life, and alleged that it was void.
It is claimed that the alleged contract was void under the statute of frauds, and, further, that it was a contract which neither the executive officers not the board of trustees had the power to make, under the authority of Beers v. Insurance Co., 66 Hun, 75, 20 N. Y. Supp. 788; but passing, without determining, these questions, we are of the opinion that the plaintiff has no cause of action, for other reasons, which may be briefly stated. The by-law alluded to must be given a reasonable interpretation. We may assume that the power given to appoint was intended to include the power to employ, and to agree upon the compensation that should be paid; but in assuming this we cannot believe that the board of trustees, in adopting the by-law, intended to invest the executive officers named with the power to enter into...
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