Williams v. Cass-Crow Wing Co-Op. Ass'n
| Decision Date | 03 July 1947 |
| Docket Number | No. 34375.,34375. |
| Citation | 28 N.W.2d 646,224 Minn. 275 |
| Parties | WILLIAMS v. CASS-CROW WING CO-OP. ASS'N (SHELBY MUT. PLATE GLASS & CASUALTY CO., Garnishee). |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, Crow Wing County; J. J. Hadler, Judge.
Action by Helen Williams against Cass-Crow Wing Co-operative Association to recover for injuries sustained by the plaintiff in a fire caused by presence of gasoline in kerosene allegedly purchased from the defendant, wherein the plaintiff recovered a judgment against the defendant for $10,000. Thereafter the plaintiff instituted garnishment proceedings against the Shelby Mutual Plate Glass and Casualty Company, garnishee, which had issued an indemnity insurance policy to the defendant. The Court directed a judgment for plaintiff against the garnishee in the amount of the policy coverage, $10,000. From an order denying the garnishee's motion for new trial, the garnishee appeals.
Affirmed.
G. P. Mahoney and John S. Morrison, both of Minneapolis, for appellant.
Ryan, Ryan & Ryan, of Brainerd, for respondent.
In our statement of facts we shall refer to the parties as they were named in the court below, i.e., plaintiff, defendant, and garnishee. We find the facts to be substantially as follows:
The garnishee is a foreign corporation duly authorized to transact business in this state. It writes policies of public liability insurance and thereby agrees to pay, for an adequate consideration, on behalf of the insured and within prescribed limits, such sums as the insured may be required to pay to third persons for liability imposed by law upon the insured for bodily injuries and property damage sustained as a result of accidents proximately caused by the insured's negligence in the conduct of his business. Under the policy presently involved, the insurer was also obligated to investigate and defend, at its own expense, all claims arising thereunder. During the times here involved, the policy issued by the garnishee to defendant was in full force and effect.
Defendant is a Minnesota co-operative association, having for its business the purchase and the sale to its patrons of petroleum products, fuel, fertilizer, and other articles of merchandise. It operated a bulk station at Brainerd, Minnesota, and also owned retail filling stations at Pequot Lakes and Pillager. The station at Pequot Lakes is the one here involved. That station was leased to one Sigville Anderson on a monthly rental basis, and he operated it as his own private enterprise, but he made most of his purchases of petroleum products from defendant on a wholesale basis. He also purchased such products from other dealers.
On March 14, 1945, plaintiff was seriously injured by a fire which destroyed the farm home in which she, her husband, and three children resided near Pequot Lakes. She and her family lived some ten miles beyond Pequot Lakes, approximately 25 miles from Brainerd, so that her home was at least 35 miles from Brainerd. The explosion which destroyed plaintiff's home and injured her was caused by what she supposed was pure kerosene. It was supposed to have been purchased at defendant's station at Pequot. On June 27, 1945, plaintiff brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries against defendant. Plaintiff prevailed and recovered a judgment against defendant for $10,000 on January 12, 1946. On January 15, 1946, plaintiff instituted the present proceeding against the garnishee, having been authorized to do so by an order of the court. This took place after the garnishee had appeared in the garnishment proceeding and denied all liability on its part to defendant. In this proceeding, a supplemental complaint was duly served. The garnishee answered, and plaintiff replied.
On plaintiff's motion in the court below and over the garnishee's objection, the court submitted this question to the jury: "Did the defendant, Cass-Crow Wing Cooperative Assn., a corporation, give notice of the happening of the accident involved in this case to the garnishee [Shelby Mutual Plate Glass and Casualty Company, a corporation] as soon as practicable?"
The jury answered this in the affirmative. The court instructed the jury:
The garnishee excepted "to the court submitting the issue to the jury (1) on the ground that the court should have held as a matter of law that notice was not given as soon as practicable; (2) that the court should instruct the jury to answer the question `no' as a matter of law."
The important and, we think, decisive question here is whether the giving of notice to the garnishee presented a fact question. If it did, liability should follow.
Except for the question submitted to the jury, the case was tried to the court which did "specifically adopt the verdict of the jury" and did "specifically find that the notice of the said accident was given by the defendant to the garnishee as soon as practicable after the accident to plaintiff and that the defendant did not breach the terms of the policy with respect to the giving of notice of the accident."
The summons and complaint in the main action were served upon L E. Glanville, defendant's local manager at Brainerd, on June 27, 1945. Being uncertain as to what procedure should be taken, he called up the president of defendant, who came to Brainerd the following day. Pursuant to his instructions, Glanville telephoned garnishee's St. Paul agency as to what should be done with the papers thus handed him. He testified that in the conversation then had, the garnishee's representative told him:
Glanville first learned of the Pequot Lakes accident when he read of it in a Brainerd paper shortly after it happened. He next heard of it on March 19, when the state oil inspector called on him at the bulk station. He was told by the inspector that the kerosene "that was supposed to have caused this fire up at Pequot was supposed to have been purchased from our station at Pequot." He attempted to communicate with Anderson's station at Pequot, but, not being able to get Anderson, talked to Mrs. Anderson, who said she did not know of any record of this sale of kerosene to plaintiff. The inspector, however, found that gasoline and kerosene had been mixed at the bulk plant in Brainerd because of a faulty distributing system, and he so advised Glanville. Defendant's tanks at Brainerd, Pequot and Pillager were officially sealed by the inspector that day. From that time on, no one representing or claiming to represent plaintiff made any claim against defendant, nor was any information brought to any of defendant's officers that any such claim was thought of until the summons and complaint were served on June 27. At the time of the state inspector's visit, which occurred some five days after the fire, the garnishee thinks that defendant had acquired sufficient information about it to realize fully that trouble might ensue and that duty demanded that defendant give the garnishee the notice required under the terms of the policy. As a matter of fact, however, the inspector did not know that the kerosene purchased at Pequot Lakes had come from the Brainerd station. His examination was based solely upon the mixture of gasoline with kerosene purchased at the Anderson station.
Plaintiff, in her brief, recites the fact that this accident happened some 40 miles from Brainerd and that Mr. Glanville, defendant's manager at Brainerd, on learning from the Brainerd paper of the accident, got nothing in the way of information indicating that the Brainerd station was in any way involved or was likely to be blamed for the fire at Pequot Lakes. He testified that during this period there were reports of two other fires, one in Brainerd and one at Motley, 25 miles away. As to each of these accidents, no knowledge or information was given to defendant that it was charged with liability for negligence or that it was otherwise the cause of plaintiff's harm.
Some three or four days after the summons and complaint had been mailed to and received by the garnishee, it sent its representative, Lynn Carroll, an investigator, to Brainerd. He interviewed Glanville regarding the entire matter. They made a trip to the hospital to visit Carl Wright, the state oil inspector. Carroll took a written statement from Glanville while there, a stay extending over "parts of two days." He and Glanville went over the bulk station, where the piping system was shown to Carroll. Carroll was given the valve which was suspected of being defective, and he has since retained it. The valve was given to him for the purpose of having it tested. His testimony in that regard is as follows:
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