The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-10-01
AN IMPORTANT DECISION
IN THE CASE or DIR. FULLER US.
METROFOLITAN INSURANCE 90.

Handed Down by Judge Wheeler in the
superior Court Yesterday-over $780,
600 Involved in the Case-Ouestlon of the
Reserved Dividend Plan-The Declsiol
of Widespread Importance,
One of the most important decisions
rendered in the superior court for
years was handed down by Judge
George w. Wheeler yesterday morning.
This was a judgment in favor of Dr.
Austin B. Fuller of this city against
the Metropolitan Life Insurance COM
pany of New York. The case involves
over 100000. The Metropolitan Insur-
ance company issued in the decade
1S70-S0 a large number ofpolicies on what
according to their terms was the reserv-
cd dividend plan. 1t was not stated in
the policy what this reserved dividend
plan was, but the agents of the COM
pany had a book which stated what the
plan was, which was shown usually
to the applicants for insurance. All
those insured in any one year formed
class, which took it's name from the
tenth year after that in which the in
surance was placed. Thus those in
sured in 1870 were in the 1880 class. All
the dividends by policies which lapsed
went to The benefit of those who sur
vived at the end of ten years. DR.
Fuller was insured in 1874 and belonged
to the class of 1884. At the end of ten
years the company sent around cir
cular stating what was due to the policy
holder and giving him certain options
DR.. Fuller believed that he was entitled
to more than was represented and ap-
piled to the United States circuit court
of the district of New York and received
more than seven times the amount
which the company offered him, after
protracted litigation. After this vic
tory large number of policy holders
belonging to the classes between 1885,
80, who had received similar state
ments at the end of their respective
ten years, assigned their claims to Dr.
Fuller, so that he had fifty claims, ag-
gregat ting more than 100000 which he
claimed the company should pay and
which they had not paid The COM
pany anticipated what Dr. Fuller con-
templated and brought an injunction in
the superior court of Connecticut for
New Haven county to prevent DIR. Full
Ter from bringing suit on those claims.
This suit was tried before Judge A
H. Fem some two years after the in
decided the case in favor of DR.. Fuller
and dismissed the injunction. The
company appealed to the supreme court
and was beaten again.
About three years ago DR.. Fuller
brought suit on forty-one of the claims,
they being almost entirely those held
by people in New Haven and Bridge
port. The company defended on the
ground that each on. If the policy
holders had given receipts in full to the
company. The company also claimed
that the reserved dividend plan was
not such as DR.. Fuller stated and
claimed that expenses were to be de-
Quoted from the dividends on the poll
cies lapsed, and that the interest on
these was not to be compounded.
Judge Wheeler finds that these receipts
were obtained by fraud that the re-
served dividend plan was as DR.. Fuller
alleged it to be, that the dividends on
lapsed policies were to form fund
at the end of the year in which the
policies lapsed and interest or income
was to be added from that time ON to
the end of the period of ten years. He
finds that the company did not pay
to these policy holders the amounts
which it knew was due them. This
decision is of wide reaching Importance
for throughout the United States are
thousands of policy holders who have
been insured by the Metropolitan Life
Insurance company on this same plan
and who, it is claimed, have been set
tied with in the same way.
There was quite an array of counsel
in the case. Messrs. E. P. Arvine
John w Alling. T. H. Russell, and L.
A. Fuller of New York appeared for
DR.. Fuller. Judge Henry Stoddard
Henry c. Robinson CT Hartford, and
at times jeremiah Halsey of Norwich,
Goodwin Stoddard of Bridgeport and
Goodwin Stoddard of Bridgeport, and
peared for the company.