O'Connell v. N.Y. Life Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 07 January 1936 |
| Citation | 264 N.W. 253,220 Wis. 61 |
| Parties | O'CONNELL v. NEW YORK LIFE INS. CO. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Chippewa County; Dayton E. Cook, County Judge.
Affirmed.
This was an action commenced on July 16, 1934, by Mary O'Connell, plaintiff, against New York Life Insurance Company, defendant, to recover double indemnity in the sum of $1,000 upon a policy of insurance issued by the defendant on the life of Thomas O'Connell, deceased.
By the terms of the policy, the payment of double indemnity was conditioned upon proof “that the death of the insured resulted directly and independently of all other causes from bodily injury effected solely through external, violent and accidental cause, and that such death occurred within sixty days after sustaining such injury. * * *”
The insured died of double pneumonia following heat prostration, and it was defendant's contention that the death was not caused by accidental means within the terms of the policy.
The case was tried to the court and jury and a general verdict for the defendant was rendered. Upon motion, the court ordered judgment in favor of plaintiff notwithstanding the verdict. Defendant appeals.Bundy, Beach & Holland and E. B. Bundy, all of Eau Claire, for appellant.
Alexander Wiley, of Chippewa Falls, for respondent.
The evidence is not in dispute. Thomas O'Connell was a plumber. On July 12, 1932, he was working on the construction of a sewer in Chippewa Falls. His work consisted of laying the sewer pipe. The trench in which the sewer was laid was eight feet deep and approximately three feet wide. The temperature was about 110 degrees. The air was muggy and close. After some hours of work in this ditch, O'Connell returned to the plumbing shop and shortly thereafter collapsed and fell, striking his head at the base of the skull. Within twenty-four hours, he developed pneumonia from which he died.
It is conceded that the blow on the head was not sufficient to cause or even materially contribute to his death, and also that the pneumonia was induced by heat prostration. The sole question in this case is whether heat prostration satisfies the policy requirement that death or bodily injury be “effected solely through external, violent and accidental cause.” If it does, the policy applies and the judgment below was correct.
[1][2] The following rules may be said to be well established in relation to this subject:
(1) That courts have made no distinction between sunstroke and heat prostration, however different their medical effects may be.
(2) That the weight of authority and the best-considered cases hold that injuries resulting from heat prostration or sunstroke are not only accidentally effected, but produced by accidental means. See Richards v. Standard Accident Ins. Co.,...
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