Chicago-Coulterville Coal Co. v. Fidelity & Casualty Co.

Citations

• 130 F. 957
• 1904 U.S. App. LEXIS 4860

Syllabus

<p>L Indemnity Insurance — Defenses—Waiver.</p> <p>Plaintiff, after having been sued for injuries to its servant, notified defendant indemnity company, by which plaintiff was insured, thereof, and the latter, after having examined the claim, advised settlement, but denied liability on the ground that the injury was caused by plaintiff’s breach of a statutory obligation within an exemption from liability contained in the policy. Defendant, however, agreed that its attorney should defend the suit, but plaintiff employed other attorneys, and, without relying on the opinion of defendant’s counsel, settled the claim. Held, that defendant was not liable to reimburse plaintiff for the amount of the settlement, on the ground of an express or implied promise.</p> <p>2. Mines and Mining — Injuries to Miners — Statutes—Contributory Negligence.</p> <p>Where a miner was injured by reason of the mine owner’s willful failure to maintain an open passageway around the landing place at the bottom of the shaft, as required by 4 Starr & C. Ann. St. 1902, pp. 845, 864, c. 93, §§ 2, 33, declaring that, for any injury occasioned by any willful violation of the act or willful failure to comply with its provisions, a right of action shall accrue to the party injured for any direct damages sustained thereby, the contributory negligence of such miner was no defense.</p> <p>3. Same — New Mines.</p> <p>Where, long prior to an injury to a miner who was struck by a descending cage in a shaft, the owner of the mine had complied with 4 Starr & C. Ann. St. 1902, p. 845, c. 93, § 2b, requiring a passageway to be constructed 14 feet wide around the bottom of the shaft, but, by reason of a cave-in, the passage had become blocked and obstructed so that a man could get through the passageway only by crawling over the rock and débris, and then by squeezing through a narrow passage, which condition existed for about six weeks before the injury, whereas the passage might have been cleared in two or three da