Holland America Insurance Company v. Rogers

• Decision Date: 28 May 1970
• Docket Number: No. 69-569.,69-569.
• Citation: Holland America Insurance Company v. Rogers, 313 F.Supp. 314 (N.D. Cal. 1970)
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: HOLLAND AMERICA INSURANCE COMPANY, and Triple A Machine Shop, Petitioners, v. William K. ROGERS, Deputy Commissioner, Thirteenth Compensation District, United States of America, Department of Labor, Bureau of Employees' Compensation, Respondents. Angela HARPER, aka Angela Spies, Real-Party in Interest.

313 F. Supp. 314

HOLLAND AMERICA INSURANCE COMPANY, and Triple A Machine Shop, Petitioners, v. William K. ROGERS, Deputy Commissioner, Thirteenth Compensation District, United States of America, Department of Labor, Bureau of Employees' Compensation, Respondents Angela HARPER, aka Angela Spies, Real-Party in Interest.

No. 69-569.

United States District Court, N. D. California.

May 28, 1970.

N. A. Misciagna, Kiernan & Misciagna, San Francisco, Cal., for petitioners.

James L. Browning, Jr., U. S. Atty., John F. Meadows, Atty. in Charge, West Coast Office, Admiralty & Shipping Section, Allan J. Weiss, Atty., Admiralty & Shipping Department, U. S. Dept. of Justice, San Francisco, Cal., for Deputy Commissioner William K. Rogers.

Nicholas Zoller, San Francisco, Cal., for real party in interest.

Order Granting Real Party in Interest's Motion for Summary Judgment and Denying Petitioners' Motion for Summary Judgment

GERALD S. LEVIN, District Judge.

I. Statement of the Case

This matter comes before the Court on cross-motions for summary judgment, by which motions the Petitioners seek to set aside a compensation order entered by the Respondent Deputy Commissioner pursuant to provisions of the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act "the Act", as amended 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., and the Respondent and Real Party in Interest "Angela Spies" seek to have the compensation order affirmed.

The compensation order was entered on December 4, 1969, awarding Angela Spies death benefits as the "surviving wife" of a deceased employee pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 909.¹

II. Facts

Angela Spies filed for death benefits under the Act as the "surviving wife" of a deceased employee whose employment comes within the coverage of the Act. The parties do not dispute the fact that the accident and injury by which the decedent, Julian Spies, lost his life arose out of the course of his employment, nor do they dispute the fact that at the time of injury the decedent's average weekly wage was equivalent to $105.00 per week. Hence, if Angela Spies is the "surviving wife" of Julian Spies within the meaning of the Act, she is entitled to the death benefits which she has been awarded by the Deputy Commissioner.

Angela Spies, a woman of Mexican descent with little formal education, was first married to one Charles Herrera in 1933, and was legally divorced from Herrera by a Texas final decree of divorce in 1937. In 1941, Angela Spies married one Homer Doyle Harper, and in 1957, while both resided in Watsonville, California, Harper employed a Mexican attorney in Chihuahua, Mexico, to obtain a divorce for him. Angela Spies was then given divorce papers by Harper to be executed in Watsonville, whereby she appointed a Mexican lawyer to represent her. Harper obtained the Mexican decree of divorce on September 11, 1957, and served Angela Spies with a copy of said decree.

On January 6, 1967, Angela Spies married the decedent, Julian Spies. At the time of their marriage Angela Spies informed Julian Spies of her Mexican divorce from Harper. Angela Spies lived with Julian Spies as man and wife from the date of their marriage until his death on March 10, 1969. Angela Spies was named the sole beneficiary in Julian Spies's will which was admitted to probate in Marin County, California, on April 14, 1969.

After a hearing before the Deputy Commissioner, Angela Spies was found to be the "surviving wife" of the decedent and therefore entitled to death benefits under the Act.

The question presented here for review stems from the contention of petitioners that since Angela Spies' 1957 Mexican divorce from Harper was invalid, and that since Harper is still living, Angela Spies remains the lawful wife of Harper and thus cannot be the "surviving wife" of Julian Spies within the meaning of the Act.

III. Question Presented

The sole question presented in this proceeding is: Whether the record, considered as a whole, supports the Deputy Commissioner's findings that Angela Spies is the "surviving wife" of the decedent within the meaning of the Act.

IV. Discussion

The scope of review here is delineated by the Administrative Procedure Act and can be summarized as follows: the findings of the Deputy Commissioner are to be accepted unless they are unsupported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole. O'Leary v. Brown-Pacific-Maxon, 340 U.S. 504, 508, 71 S.Ct. 470, 95 L.Ed. 483 (1951); Hastorf-Nettles, Inc. v. Pillsbury, 203 F.2d 641, 643 (9th Cir. 1953); Peerless Insurance Company v. Hill, 309 F.Supp. 189, 191 (D.Minn.1969). The burden is on the petitioner(s) to show that the evidence does not support the compensation order of the Deputy Commissioner. Perini Corporation v. Heyde, 306 F.Supp. 1321, 1325 (D.R.I.1969).

The Act provides for the recovery of death benefits by the "surviving wife" of an insured decedent, pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 909. The term "surviving wife" is not defined in the Act, although 33 U.S.C. § 902 (Definitions) does list the following definition:

* * * * * *

(16) The term "widow" includes only the decedent's wife living with or dependent for support upon him at the time of his death; or living apart for justifiable cause or by reason of his desertion at such time.

* * * * * *

However viewed, Angela Spies must qualify as a "surviving wife" or "widow" in order to be entitled to death benefits under the Act. The Deputy Commissioner found Angela Spies to be the "surviving wife" of Julian Spies and, under the standard of review noted above, this Court cannot say that such finding is unsupported by substantial evidence on the record viewed as a whole.

Although Petitioners raised some question before the Deputy Commissioner as to the validity of Angela Spies's 1957 Mexican divorce, the Deputy Commissioner was entitled to reject the inconclusive evidence offered thereon by Petitioners and presume that Angela Spies's subsequent marriage to Julian Spies was valid. When a marriage is shown in evidence, whether regular or irregular, and whatever the form of proof, the law raises a strong presumption of its legality. Freeman S.S. Co. v. Pillsbury, 172 F.2d 321, 323-324 (9th Cir. 1949). Similarly, the presumption of validity of a first marriage is displaced by the presumption of validity of a second marriage where such occurs. United States v. Marlow, 235 F.2d 366, 368 (5th Cir. 1956); Estate of Vinson, 212 Cal.App.2d 543, 546, 28 Cal.Rptr. 94 (1963); Estate of Shank, 154 Cal.App. 2d 808, 812, 316 P.2d 710 (1957).

Accordingly, this Court finds that Angela Spies was the lawful wife of Julian Spies at the time of his death, and is therefore entitled to death benefits under the Act as his "surviving wife."

Even were this Court to conclude otherwise and find that the 1957 Mexican divorce in question were invalid, Angela Spies would nonetheless be entitled to the recovery of death benefits in the instant case if she were to qualify as a "putative spouse" under the laws of California. The "putative spouse" issue raises two problems, each of which is discussed following.

A. Can a Putative Spouse Recover as a "Surviving Wife" under the Act?

It appears to be the generally accepted rule that a party whose marriage is otherwise recognized by the state where the injury occurs, can be a "surviving wife" within the meaning of the Act, even if the party is not actually married at the time. (As e. g., where the spouses have entered into a non-ceremonial common-law marriage recognized by the state.) See Bolin v. Marshall, 76 F.2d 668, 669 (9th Cir. 1935); Green v. Crowell, 69 F.2d 762, 764 (5th Cir. 1934); Keyway Stevedoring Co. v. Clark, 43 F.2d 983, 984-985 (D.Md.1930).

In Lawson v. United States, 192 F.2d 479, 481 (2d Cir. 1951), cert. den. 343 U.S. 904, 72 S.Ct. 635, 96 L.Ed. 1323 (1952), Judge Swan writing for the court denied death benefits to a claimant "wife" under the Death on the High Seas Act where there were two women claiming as wives of the decedent. Judge Swan noted that in most federal acts, the word "wife" means legal wife. That case is not apposite here, however, because it dealt with two rival claimants and with a different federal enactment. Lawson was distinguished in Gibson v. Hughes, 192 F.Supp. 564, 569-570 (S.D. N.Y.1961), a proceeding under the instant Act, where the court summarized the Lawson case as holding "that Congress had not intended `that a man could have two or more wives all recovering at once under this statute'". Id. at 569.

The court in Gibson concluded that since there was before it no question of multiple recovery, the rationale of Lawson was inapplicable. The approach taken in Gibson appears proper in view of the purposes of the workmen's compensation statutes, and it does not appear that any court since Lawson or Gibson has applied the reasoning or holding of Lawson to proceedings under the instant Act. Accordingly, we find that a putative spouse can be a "surviving wife" under the Act.

B. Is Angela Spies a Putative Spouse within the Meaning of Applicable California Law?

Assuming that a putative spouse may qualify for death benefits under the Act, a second and more difficult problem presents itself: is Angela Spies such a putative spouse?

Because there is no purely federal law of domestic relations, Gibson, supra at 566, the Act leaves the definitions of "surviving wife" and "widow" to the law of that state where the injury complained of occurred. Albina Engine and Machine Works v. O'Leary, 328 F.2d 877, 878 (9th Cir. 1964), cert. den. 379 U.S. 817, 85 S.Ct. 35, 13 L.Ed.2d 29 (1964); Keyway Stevedoring Co., supra, 43 F.2d at 984-985. Therefore, it is also state law—in the instant case that of California—which is determinative of a claimant's status as a putative spouse.

California case law defines a putative spouse as:

One who believes in good faith that she is a party to a valid marriage though the marriage is invalid. Citations omitted. Brennfleck v. Workmen's Comp. App. Bd., 265

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