Title: Nicollet Properties, Inc. v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co.

State: minnesota

Issuer: Minnesota Supreme Court

Document:

135 N.W.2d 127 (1965) NICOLLET PROPERTIES, INC., et al., Appellants, v. ST. PAUL MERCURY INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Respondents, James Oxborough, Appellant. No. 39377. Supreme Court of Minnesota. April 23, 1965. *128 Nathan A. Cobb, Minneapolis, for plaintiffs-appellants. Benjamin M. Kail, St. Paul, for defendant-appellant. Altman, Geraghty & Mulally, and Ralph E. Koenig and James M. Corum, St. Paul, for respondent. MURPHY, Justice. The plaintiffs and defendant James Oxborough appeal from the judgment and from orders denying their motions for amended findings or a new trial. This litigation has its origin in an action for damages by Lowell Zube and members of his family who were occupants in an automobile which collided with an automobile driven by Herbert A. Long. Other defendants in the action brought by the Zubes included Nicollet Properties, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Nicollet), Kraus-Anderson, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Kraus-Anderson), and Oxborough, an employee of Nicollet. The particular appeals we consider grow out of an action for declaratory judgment brought by Nicollet, Kraus-Anderson, and Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of Wisconsin (hereinafter referred to as Employers), which had issued a public liability policy to Nicollet. The declaratory judgment action sought a determination to the effect that under the terms of an automobile liability policy issued to Zube by St. Paul *129 Mercury Insurance Company and St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company (hereinafter referred to as the St. Paul companies), Nicollet, Kraus-Anderson, and Oxborough were insured so as to obligate the St. Paul companies to pay whatever sums those parties might be obligated to pay by reason of injuries sustained by the Zubes, and that the recovery against Employers is limited to the excess of the limit provided for in the St. Paul companies' policy. Oxborough, named as a defendant in the declaratory judgment action, also claimed that the policy issued to Zube protected him. The St. Paul companies deny that the provisions of their policy included protection for the plaintiffs and Oxborough or that there was any duty on their part to assume the defense of the action instituted by the Zubes. Numerous errors are assigned by appellants, but it is only necessary for us to review one relating to the correctness of the trial court's determination that plaintiffs and Oxborough were not protected as insureds under the terms of the policy issued by the St. Paul companies to Lowell Zube. From an examination of the record it appears that Nicollet owns and operates a drive-in theater located on the north side of Highway No. 13 in Dakota County and that Kraus-Anderson was also joined in the Zube action as an owner, although it has no interest in the theater. At the point where patrons enter the theater area from Highway No. 13 there are two avenues, an entrance and an exit, with an island between them. On August 26, 1962, Oxborough, a minor, was employed by Nicollet to stand at the entrance of the driveway to the theater area and indicate the entrance to prospective customers by use of a flashlight. At about 8 p. m., daylight savings time, while driving east on Highway No. 13, Zube approached this entrance. When he was about two blocks away, he saw the boy standing on the island. He intended to make a left turn into the theater area. When he was at a point about 50 or 100 feet from the driveway, he gave a signal for a left-hand turn for the benefit of following vehicles. He saw the youth waving his flashlight, indicating the entrance to the theater area. He followed the directions given, but before he commenced his turn, he looked to the east to observe the traffic. In making his left-hand turn and while his car was on the westbound lane of Highway No. 13 and entering the driveway, his car was struck at the right front door by the Long vehicle, which approached from the opposite direction. As a result of the action brought by the Zubes to recover damages because of this accident, the original defendants, Nicollet, Kraus-Anderson, and Oxborough, now claim that they are protected by the policy issued to Zube by the St. Paul companies and that those companies should defend and indemnify them for any judgment entered against them. The provision of the policy with which we are concerned recites: The policy further provided: By the insuring agreement of such policy, the St. Paul companies agreed: The findings of the trial court in the declaratory judgment action recite: The court concluded: We direct our attention to the assertion of the plaintiffs in this declaratory judgment action that the operator of the drive-in theater, through its employee, James Oxborough, was "legally responsible for the use" of the Zube automobile so as to entitle them to the contractual benefits of the policy issued by the St. Paul companies on the Zube automobile. In other words, it is their claim that Oxborough was "using" the Zube automobile within the meaning of the omnibus clause when he indicated the entrance driveway with his flashlight. We have examined the numerous authorities cited and discussed by the parties. Three of them have application to the principles of law involved in this appeal. They are: Woodrich Const. Co. v. Indemnity Ins. Co., 252 Minn. 86, 89 N.W.2d 412; Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Steenberg Const. Co. (8 Cir.) 225 F.2d 294; and J. Scheer & Sons Co. v. Travelers Ind. Co., 35 Misc.2d 262, 229 N.Y.S.2d 248. In Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Steenberg Const. Co. (8 Cir.) 225 F.2d 294, 295, the court considered the following provision: The court there held that under that provision of the policy an employee of a contractor who was supervising and signaling the movement from the rear of the subcontractor's truck was "using" the truck within the meaning of the clause. In that case the contractor's employee was actively directing the backward movement of the truck. Both the contractor and the subcontractor were engaged in work incidental to *131 the same construction work and the conduct of both proximately contributed to cause the accident. The right of the general contractor's employee to give the directions and the duty of the subcontractor's driver to conform to them were conceded. Our decision in the Woodrich case deals with another situation where the cooperation of employers jointly engaged in a common project presented circumstances in which the arm and hand signal of one of the employees constituted a "use." In that case, which involved a road-paving operation, cement trucks had to maneuver in a restricted and congested area so as to back up to a paver or cement-mixing machine. Under the circumstances in that case the paver was completely obscured from the truck driver's vision. An employee of the Woodrich company undertook to direct the driver and transmit instructions to him by means of arm and hand signals as he backed towards the paver. Under these circumstances, the court found, under the provisions of the omnibus clause, that Woodrich was an insured "using" the truck when it backed over the plaintiff, causing the injuries involved in the litigation. In that case we said (252 Minn. 94, 89 N.W.2d 418): The case of J. Scheer & Sons Co. v. Travelers Ind. Co., supra, dealt with the issue of whether directing a truck's backward movements constituted a "use" for insurance purposes. In that case, a truck delivered a load of cement to a garage being repaired by a general contractor. As the truck was backing in, a man from the cement company was standing on the side of the truck to guide its movements. As it backed in, the foreman for the general contractor undertook to see that the top of the truck cleared some overhead sprinkler heads. As the truck neared a water pipe hanging from the ceiling, the man on the side of the truck, by signals, stopped it. At that time he heard the floor creak, but the foreman said it was safe. The floor began to vibrate, however, and while the driver was attempting to drive the car out, the floor collapsed, the vehicle fell, and the building was damaged. The court said (35 Misc.2d 265, 229 N.Y.S.2d 251): In discussing the application of the term "use" as it was found in an omnibus provision of an insurance policy, we said in *132 Hammer v. Malkerson Motors, Inc., 269 Minn. 563, 571, 132 N.W.2d 174, 179: We agree with the trial court that the employee Oxborough was not "using" the Zube automobile within the meaning of the policy before or when it came into collision with the Long vehicle. The circumstances of this case distinguish it from those found in the Steenberg and Woodrich cases. Here, Zube was in complete control of his automobile and did not need or require directions such as those given in the fact situations referred to. He could clearly see where he was going. Oxborough was "using" a flashlight to indicate the entrance which prospective patrons were to use. There is no suggestion in the record that he had any other function. The manager of the theater testified: The testimony of Zube is that he saw Oxborough for the first time when he was about two blocks east of the entrance. When Zube was 50 to 100 feet east of the entrance driveway, he turned his left signal on. He had an unimpaired view of oncoming traffic conditions for a distance of at least three-fourths of a mile as he approached the entrance in daylight. He testified that all that Oxborough did was to stand next to the island at the middle of the entrance to the theater and wave his light back and forth. He was not on the highway at any time directing or stopping traffic. A significant distinction between the situations in the Woodrich and Steenberg cases lies in the fact that in those cases the movement of the vehicles was backward and the drivers had no vision of the direction in which they were moving. Because of the design of the trucks, it would not have been possible without auxiliary aid to manipulate their vehicles and maintain the necessary lookout consistent with prudent driving. The signalmen placed themselves in a position where they could see the route of backward travel and controlled the movements of the trucks by their directions. Except for performing the mechanical operations, such as braking, turning, or shifting gears, the signalmen *133 there were actually controlling the movement and directions of the trucks. In the instant case, it may be fairly said that Oxborough functioned no differently than an electric sign indicating an entrance to a parking area. This function is too remote to be considered a use within the meaning of the policy. It would not be reasonable to say that the omnibus clause comprehends that one who indicates an entrance or exit from a parking area is using the automobile of the person to whom this information is conveyed. The other assignments of error are all predicated on the assumption that the plaintiffs are protected by the omnibus clause contained in the Zube policy. Since we hold to the contrary, there is no necessity to discuss them. Affirmed [1] For numerous definitions of the word "use" as employed in automobile liability insurance policies, see 43 Wd. & Phr. (Perm. ed.) Supp. pp. 178, 179.