Case Name: Wickham, Respondent, vs. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and others, Appellants
Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Wisconsin
Decision Date: 1922-11-08
Citations: 178 Wis. 564
Docket Number: 
Parties: Wickham, Respondent, vs. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and others, Appellants.
Judges: 
Reporter: Wisconsin Reports
Volume: 178
Pages: 564–573

Head Matter:
Wickham, Respondent, vs. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and others, Appellants.
October 11
November 8, 1922.
Insurance: Mutual benefit societies: Member in arrears: Reinstatement: By-laws: Ambiguities: Construction.
1. Where the by-laws of a mutual benefit association provided that a member did not fall in arrears until the end of the month in which he owed a sum equal to three months’ dues, and entitled the beneficiaries of a member of a certain class to a funeral donation on such member’s death while a member in good standing, the beneficiary of a member of such class who had been so in arrears but had paid the amount due and died within less than three months from such payment was entitled to a funeral donation, notwithstanding other by-laws provided for the suspension of members who. were three months in arrears and that members who had been so suspended should not be entitled to donations until three months after payment of arrearages.
2. In case of doubt or ambiguity, special provisions in the bylaws of a mutual benefit society should prevail over general provisions therein.
3. Insurance contracts, when susceptible of more than one interpretation, should be construed in favor of the assured..
Crowniiart, J., dissents:
Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Eau Claire county: E. C. PIigbee, Judge.
Affirmed.
Action by an administrator, who was also an heir at law of the deceased, to recover insurance alleged to be due by virtue of the membership of deceased in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. A judgment in defendant’s favor in the municipal court was reversed by the circuit court and judgment rendered in favor of plaintiff for the amount claimed, $75, and costs.
The deceased, Thomas Wickham, became a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, hereinafter referred to as the Association, in September, 1911. Prior, to May 3, 1921, he became in arrears m the payment of dues, and on that date he paid six months’ dues covering the period from January to June,' inclusive. Dues were ordinarily payable at the end of the month. His death took place July 4, 1921.
The Association has five classes of members: beneficial, semi-beneficial, non-beneficial, honorary, and auxiliary. Deceased was a semi-beneficial member. Provision is made for the payment to beneficial members of various benefits, called donations, including sick,' disability, strike, members’ funeral, and wife’s funeral benefits.
The constitution and by-laws of the Association provide, in part:
“Members 'in arrears. A. Section 45. When a member owes a sum equal to three months’ dues, he is not in good standing and is thereby suspended from all donations and will not again be entitled to donations until three months from the date he has paid said arrearages, which payment must include the payment of dues for the month in which said payment is made.
“B. A member owing a local any sum equal to six months’ dues shall be dropped from membership without a vote of the union, and his name be stricken from the books. After that he can be re-admitted only as a new member, subject to such re-admission fee as provided for in the by-laws of his local union or district council, together with the sum of three dollars ($3), which shall be forwarded to the local where he was dropped.”
“Members entitled to donation. A. Section 48. On the death of a member in good standing, his wife or legal heirs, as named on his application, shall be entitled to the member’s funeral donation as prescribed in the constitution and laws of the United Brotherhood.”
"Member’s funeral donation. Section 49. B. A beneficial member will be entitled to the donations as prescribed-in the constitution and laws of the United Brotherhood: ■provided he is over one year a contributing or financial member in good standing, and when three months in arrears he shall be debarred from all donations until three months after all arrearages are paid in full, including the current month.”
“Semi-beneficial members’ donations. A. Section 52. An apprentice or a candidate between the ages of fifty and sixty years, when admitted to membership shall be classed as a semi-beneficial member, and shall only be entitled to the donations provided for semi-beneficial members on the condition that they have been a member the required length of time, that they were in good health at the time of their initiation, and in good standing at the time of death. They shall not be entitled to wife or disability donation.”
“Finances and dues. Section 44. B. Monthly dues shall be charged on the books on the first of each month, but a member does not fall in arrears until the end of the month in which he owes a sum equal to three months’ dues.”
Fred Arnold of Eau Claire, for the appellants.
For the respondent the cause was submitted on the brief of James Wickham of Eau Claire.

Opinion:
Jones, J.
The constitution and by-laws of the organization are quite voluminous, consisting of fifty-six sections, some of which have numerous subdivisions. Among other-things these relate to jurisdiction, the duties of officers, qualifications for membership, admission to the order, the payment of dues, and the donations or benefits to which members are entitled. Only a few of these sections are necessary to be considered in the case before us.
Appellant is a mutual benefit association with its main office at Indianapolis and with subordinate bodies all over this country. The deceased had been a semi-beneficial member for nearly ten years, and could receive no- wife or disability benefits, but his heirs were entitled to a "funeral donation" in the sum of $75 under certain conditions. Those who were beneficial members for five years or more, on proof of disability, might receive $500.
Counsel for appellant claim that sec. 45, above quoted, is controlling because the deceased was a member who had been in arrears and had been automatically suspended from all donations because he died while not a member in good standing during the probationary period of three months. It is admitted that in some respects he was a member in good standing but not in the sense that he was "in benefit."
According to sec. 44, E, when a member falls into arrears for three months' dues he is reported to the general secretary and when six months in arrears he is suspended. If he squares up his arrearages he is reported to the general secretary. It is undisputed that on May 3d the deceased paid all arrearages and would not again have been in arrears until September, since one of the by-laws provides that a member does not fall in arrears until the end of the month in which he owes a sum equal to three months' dues.
It will be observed that according to sec. 49, B, a beneficial member is entitled to a funeral donation provided he is over one year a contributing or financial member in good standing, and when three months in arrears he is debarred from all donations until three months after all arrearages are paid in full, including the current month. But according to sec. 52, A, dealing with semi-beneficial members' donations, all that is required is membership for the required length of time, good health at the time of initiation, and good standing at the time of death. In other words, the three-months clause contained in the other section, and relied on to defeat recovery, is not included in this section.
It may be conceded that forfeiture of fraternal insurance is a proper penalty to enforce payment of dues to a fraternal insurance company; that the by-laws of such organization may be so framed as to be self-executing; and that reasonable conditions as to reinstatement may be enforced.
It is doubtless true that in the constitution and by-laws the word "member," in some of the sections,, is used in a general sense, applying to all classes of members, and sec. 48, A, is broad enough in its terms to give to members of all classes a funeral donation under proper conditions. Sec. 48, B, provides that if a member in good standing dies without leaving heirs he shall be given a respectable burial.
The contention of appellant that semi-beneficial members are entitled to no donations, although not in arrears and after all dues have been paid, would tend to work hardship to those who might have much reason to believe themselves in good standing, and we do not consider that it should be adopted unless the plain language of the constitution and by-laws requires it. As we construe.the various sections which have been referred to, after the deceased had paid all arrearages and this fact had been reported to the general secretary he was a member in good standing, and by virtue of sections 48, A, and 52, A, his heirs were entitled to the donation. Sec. 52, A, is a special provision relating to semi-beneficial members, and in case of doubt or ambiguity should prevail over the more general sections relied on by appellant. This is a familiar rule applied both in the construction of statutes and contracts. 2 Lewis' Sutherland on Stat. Constr. (2d ed.) pp. 660,'670, § 345, 351; 1 Joyce, Insurance (2d ed.) § 214.
There is another rule of construction thus stated in Joyce on Insurance (2d ed.) § 221, citing many authorities:
"It has long been determined with an almost unwavering unanimity that insurance contracts, when susceptible of more than one interpretation, shall be construed in favor of the assured. This rule is imperative and undoubted, since to hold otherwise, without an absolute necessity therefor, would tend to subvert the very object and purposes of insurance, which is that of indemnity to the assured in case of loss, or the payment of money on the happening of a contingency, and this indemnity should be effectuated rather than defeated. And this is true of certificates in mutual benefit, etc., societies or associations."
We therefore' hold that the judgment should be affirmed.
By the Court. — Judgment affirmed.