State ex rel. Uregas Service Co. v. Adams

• Decision Date: 09 November 1953
• Docket Number: No. 43865,43865
• Parties: STATE ex rel. UREGAS SERVICE CO. Inc. v. ADAMS.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

Page 9

262 S.W.2d 9

364 Mo. 389

STATE ex rel. UREGAS SERVICE CO. Inc. v. ADAMS.

No. 43865.

Supreme Court of Missouri, En Banc.

Nov. 9, 1953.

William Waye, Jr., St. Charles, Norris H. Allen, W. R. Gilbert, St. Louis, Anderson, Gilbert, Wolfort, Allen & Bierman, St. Louis, of counsel, for relator-plaintiff.

Sam Nowlin, Montgomery City, William H. Becker, Scott O. Wright, Columbia, Clark & Becker, Columbia, of counsel, for respondent.

HYDE, Judge.

Prohibition to prevent enforcement of order to compel answer to interrogatories in the case of Earl Richard Gregory v. Uregas Service Co., Inc., which was a suit for personal injuries sustained in a gas explosion. The principal question for decision is whether the information the Court ordered to be given is privileged.

Gregory and his landlord, from whom he rented an apartment, were attempting to determine the cause of the failure of a hot water heater to operate when an explosion occurred. The negligence charged against relator included failure to inspect before supplying gas to determine whether the heater had an automatic shut off suitable to the type of gas furnished, furnishing gas not sufficiently odorized, supplying gas when it knew or in the exercise of care should have known that the heater did not have a '100% shut off valve', negligent inspection, and negligent failure to warn. The interrogatories required to be answered by relator were as follows:

'1. Did the defendant, its attorneys, its insurer or any of them, around March 1, 1952, or at any other time, cause the hot water heater located in the basement to be inspected and tested?

'2. What persons were present at the inspection?

'3. What are the names and address of these persons?

'11. Did you take any pictures of the heater?

'12. If you did take pictures, what photographer or photographers took the pictures and how many pictures were taken?

'13. Did two men connected with the Uregas Company or the defense, in the latter part of January, or the first part of February, take some samples of liquid petroleum gas out of the tank located at the Teacutter residence?

'14. If samples were taken, by whom were they taken and what are their addresses?'

Relator's general manager answered these interrogatories by saying in substance that he had no knowledge of any of these matters and had no knowledge that relator's attorneys or insurer caused these things to be done. Plaintiff then filed a motion to require answers by relator which were not confined to the personal knowledge of the general manager. The Court made such an order and it is the enforcement of this order that relator seeks to prohibit.

Relator contends both that the information sought was privileged and that the answer by its general manager was a complete compliance with Section 510.020 RSMo 1949, V.A.M.S. The latter contention is clearly wrong. We have definitely held that interrogatories to a corporate defendant are directed to the corporation and the responsibility for answering is imposed on it. State ex rel. Williams v. Buzard, 354 Mo. 719, 190 S.W.2d 907; State ex rel. Kansas City Public Service Co. v. Cowan, 356 Mo. 674, 203 S.W.2d 407. As we said in the latter case, 203 S.W.2d loc. cit. 410, an officer answering interrogatories for a corporate party 'is answering for the corporation and not for himself', and it is immaterial that he does not know of his own knowledge the facts required to be stated. Of course, his personal knowledge may be called for under Rule 3.19, if that is desired. We hold that material information not privileged which the corporation has must be given when obtained by any of its officers, agents or employees, including its attorneys.

Is the information sought by these interrogatories privileged? This is not a case of seeking the disclosure of hearsay, as in such cases as State ex rel. Thompson v. Harris, 355 Mo. 176, 195 S.W.2d 645, 166 A.L.R. 1425 and State ex rel. Evans v. Broaddus, 245 Mo. 123, 149 S.W. 473. The corporation knew who the persons were who made the inspections, and took the samples, because it sent them out to do it. It, of course, makes no difference (as conceded at the oral argument) whether the attorneys acting for relator in doing this were directly employed by it or were employed for it by its insurer. In either event, they were acting for the corporation and by its authority. Thus the situation is the same as if the corporation had sent out its own employees to do these things. When the corporation sent out persons for these purposes, it thereby made them witnesses in the case competent to testify as to any facts or conditions they found and observed that were material to the issues. Can the corporation thus make persons witnesses and then keep their identity secret?

We think this situation falls within our rulings in State ex rel. Miller's Mutual Fire Ins. Ass'n v. Caruthers, 360 Mo. 8, 226 S.W.2d 711, 712. We there ruled that the relator insurance company (sued on a fire insurance policy) should give the names of adjusters who inspected the plaintiff's property after the fire for which recovery was sought. Relator's defense was that the fire was wilfully set. We said, in ruling that the plaintiff's first interrogatory (seeking this information) should be answered: 'The adjusters, who participated in the investigation, adjustment or inspection of plaintiff's property following the fire, would certainly be competent witnesses as to the amount of the...