Mooney v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, 24434.

• Court: Supreme Court of Minnesota (US)
• Writing for the Court: Holt
• Citation: 162 Minn. 127,202 N.W. 341
• Parties: MOONEY v. BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD TRAINMEN.
• Docket Number: No. 24434.,24434.
• Decision Date: 20 February 1925

202 N.W. 341

162 Minn. 127

MOONEY v. BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD TRAINMEN.

No. 24434.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

February 20, 1925.

Appeal from District Court, Hennepin County; W. W. Bardwell, Judge.

Action by Cora E. Mooney against the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. From judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

George R. Smith and H. Stanley Hanson, both of Minneapolis, for appellant.

H. Z. Mendow and E. J. Culhane, both of Minneapolis, for respondent.

HOLT, J.

Defendant, a fraternal insurance company, appeals from a judgment obtained upon its benefit insurance certificate issued to Ed. F. Mooney, payable to plaintiff, his wife, upon his death.

In his application for a certificate of insurance Ed. F. Mooney agreed that "any beneficiary certificate based upon this application shall be held to be a contract made in the state of Illinois and subject to its laws." A certificate was issued on March 4, 1899, upon the express condition "that the said Ed. F. Mooney shall comply with the constitution, by-laws, rules, and regulations now in force or which may hereafter be adopted" by defendant. In November, 1908, plaintiff received her last letter from her husband. He then disappeared, and has since not been heard from. Defendant concedes the evidence such as to warrant the jury's finding that Mooney was dead. In 1901 the constitution was amended so that certificates were to be deemed made under and to be construed in accordance with the laws of the state in which the Grand Lodge has it headquarters. In 1913 the constitution was again amended by adding this provision:

"No liability arising from the disappearance or the presumption of the death of a member arising from any such disappearance shall be incurred by the brotherhood. Said brotherhood shall only be liable for the payment of a death claim when there is positive proof of the actual death of a beneficiary member as previously provided in this section."

Defendant contends that the insurance contract is governed by the laws of Ohio, to which state it claimed the Grand Lodge has been moved. We find no evidence in the record that such is the fact. But that is not important under defendant's theory of the case, for the Illinois courts follow those of Ohio holding valid and applicable to pre-existing contracts of insurance the above-quoted amendment to the constitution of defendant, adopted in 1913. Steen v. Modern Woodmen of America, 296 Ill. 104, 129 N. E. 546, 17 A. L. R. 406; McGovern v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen, 85 Ohio St. 460, 98 N. E. 1128, affirmed on authority of Tisch v. Protected Home Circle, 72 Ohio St. 233, 74 N. E. 188. However, we are unable to differentiate this case from Boynton v. Modern Woodmen of America, 148 Minn. 150, 181 N. W. 327, 17 A. L. R. 401. Both involve a fraternal insurance company. In one a subsequent amendment of the constitution and in the other of the by-laws provide that proof of death and a claim to the insurance cannot be based upon disappearance of the insured whether the insurance was effected prior or subsequent to such change. It is immaterial whether the amendment is to the by-laws or the constitution, for the amendent of the by-laws of the company is as effective upon the contract of insurance as would be the amendment of its constitution.

The only matters in the instant case not found in that of Boynton are that Mooney, in the application, agreed that the insurance contract should be deemed made in Illinois and subject to its laws, and the amendment of 1901 providing it shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the state where the Grand Lodge has its headquarters. B...