Lindemann v. General Am. Life Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 12 September 1972
• Docket Number: No. 34428,34428
• Citation: 485 S.W.2d 477
• Parties: Helen LINDEMANN, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. The GENERAL AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a Missouri corporation, Defendant-Appellant. . Louis District, Division One
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 477

485 S.W.2d 477

Helen LINDEMANN, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. The GENERAL AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a Missouri

corporation, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 34428.

Missouri Court of Appeals, St. Louis District, Division One.

Sept. 12, 1972.

Murphy, Kortenhof & Ely, St. Louis, for defendant-appellant.

Bruere & Rollings, Dale L. Rollings, St. Charles, for plaintiff-respondent.

WEIER, Judge.

Suit was brought by Helen Lindemann, widow of Herbert J. Lindemann, against defendant insurance company for accidental death benefits under the provisions of a group policy issued to McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Mr. Lindemann's employer. Trial to a jury resulted in a plaintiff's verdict and judgment for $8,000.00. We are requested to reverse because the court erred in failing to direct a verdict at the close of all the evidence in favor of defendant for the reason that the evidence was insufficient to support plaintiff's claim against defendant. As a corollary to this, defendant further contends that, since the evidence failed to support the verdict and judgment, it was error to give plaintiff's verdict-directing instruction because it was not supported by the evidence. Obviously, if the first contention is well taken, the second necessarily follows, because issues submitted in instructions to the jury must be supported by the evidence. Brassfield v. Sears, Mo., 421 S.W.2d 321, 323(1).

In effect, there is really only one issue for decision: Is plaintiff's evidence sufficient to support her verdict and the resulting judgment? Defendant relies upon the terms of its policy in holding plaintiff to the requirements that the evidence prove Herbert Lindemann died as a result of bodily injuries 'caused solely through external, violent and accidental means' and that his death was not 'caused directly or indirectly, wholly or partly by physical * * * infirmity * * * or by any other kind of disease.' There is no question that plaintiff has the burden to prove the injury and death of her husband occurred within the terms of the policy of insurance. Caldwell v. Travelers' Ins. Co., 305 Mo. 619, 267 S.W. 907, 921(2). In testing the sufficiency of the evidence, it is to be viewed and considered in light of the issues submitted in plaintiff's verdict-directing instruction. Green v. Sutton, Mo., 452 S.W.2d 200, 206(2). But in testing the sufficiency of the evidence, we review those facts supported by the evidence most favorable to plaintiff. Mahn v. American Life & Accident Insurance Co., Mo.App., 390 S.W.2d 573, 577(6).

The jury could have found and inferred that on February 28, 1969, Herbert Lindemann arrived at his work, about 7:00 a.m. o'clock. He asked a fellow employee, Doyne Johnson, to lift truck to a storage elevated by a fork-lift truck to a storage rack fifteen feet from the floor. After stopping the platform at this level, Lindemann suddenly fell, striking some metal file cabinets and then rolling off and down to the floor. He was bleeding from a wound on the back of his head. A nurse was summoned and he was taken to the hospital. Johnson did not see Lindemann after he raised the platform above his head because the platform obscured his vision. He saw him only when he fell off the platform and could not describe what Lindemann did or did not do preceding the fall.

Lindemann was treated for a laceration on the back of the scalp and abrasions of the back and left shoulder in the emergency room of the hospital and admitted for observation. He originally stated that he was dizzy and had fallen against a desk while on his feet. But after six hours, when his blood pressure dropped and his pulse rate increased, he told the doctor he had fallen ten to twelve feet from a forklift truck. He had also told this version of a high fall to a hospital nurse in the presence of his wife.

Subjectively, Lindemann's health had been good during the two-year period before his fall, except for a sinus condition earlier that year. He had no history of liver or kidney ailments, nor did he complain of abdominal pain, nausea or blackouts. He had not complained of nor shown any sign of illness the night before or the morning of the fall. He had nothing to drink the night before or that morning. But internal bleeding was detected by the doctor at the hospital after the drop in blood pressure. Upon an emergency operation, the round ligament was found to have pulled free from the liver, causing active bleeding. About four pints of blood were evacuated from the abdominal cavity. The bleeding was stopped, the abdomen closed, and he was returned to his room. The next day, March 1, 1969, his condition stabilized. Then that evening he became agitated, nervous and disoriented. His condition rapidly degenerated and he died early on the morning of March 2, 1969.

The surgeon who operated on Lindemann found during the course of the operation that Lindemann's liver was cirrhotic, very hard with large lumps. But he gave as his opinion that Lindemann's death was caused by the loss of blood from the liver injury, which in turn had been caused by the fall. The loss of so much blood caused shock with resultant decreased flow of blood to the liver,...