Wilcox v. Mut. Life Ins. Co. of New York

• Decision Date: 20 November 1934
• Citation: 193 N.E. 436,265 N.Y. 665
• Parties: Clara B. WILCOX, Appellant, v. MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK, Respondent. Asa H. WILCOX, an Infant, by Clara B. Wilcox, His Guardian ad Litem, Appellant, v. MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK, Respondent.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

265 N.Y. 665

193 N.E. 436

Clara B. WILCOX, Appellant,

v.MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK, Respondent.

Asa H. WILCOX, an Infant, by Clara B. Wilcox, His Guardian ad Litem, Appellant,

v.MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK, Respondent.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Nov. 20, 1934.

Appeal, in each of the above-entitled actions, from a judgment, entered March 28, 1934, upon an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Fourth Judicial Department (241 App. Div. 790, 270 N. Y. S. 1019), reversing upon the law a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a verdict directed by the court, and directing a dismissal of the complaint. The actions were brought to recover double indemnity benefits under two policies of life insurance issued by defendant on the life of Asa F. Wilcox, naming plaintiffs as beneficiaries. Each policy provided that double indemnity would be paid if the death of insured ‘resulted directly from bodily injury, received, * * * independently and exclusively of all other causes, and that such bodily injury was effected solely through external, violent and accidental means. * * *’ The deceased was foreman of a construction gang, engaged at the time involved herein in raising a heavy electric transformer. Certain heavy planks, which were being used to guide the transformer as it was being raised, became displaced, and the deceased and a fellow workman reached up and endeavored to push them into proper position. Shortly thereafter the deceased died as the result of a break in the inner coat of the aorta leading to his heart. There was evidence that the rupture of the aorta was caused by the effort made by deceased in doing this work. The trial court held that the facts disclosed that an emergency arose calling upon the deceased in the interest of his employer to act quickly outside of his ordinary duties and demanding from him an extraordinary, sudden, and excessive strain upon his heart, and that this constituted an ‘accidental means,’ entitling plaintiffs to double indemnity. The Appellate Division reversed the judgments in favor of plaintiffs and dismissed the complaints on the authority of Allendorf v. Fidelity & Casualty Co., 223 App. Div. 809, 227 N. Y. S. 765, affirmed 250 N. Y. 529, 166 N. E. 311, and Fane v. National Association of Railway Postal Clerks, 197 App. Div. 145, 188 N. Y. S. 222.

Nelson J. Palmer, of Dunkirk, and David H. Stanton, of Sherman, for appellant.

Roy P. Ohlin, of...