Court Opinion

ID: 9449385
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 16:11:00.638092+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:49.102568
License: Public Domain

KALODNER, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I agree that under Delaware law its guest statute is not applicable where a benefit is conferred upon the driver of a car in the transportation of a passenger.
I disagree, however, with the District Court’s fact-finding that a benefit was conferred on the defendant here.
The District Court’s fact-finding was in the nature of an ultimate finding of fact and it is well settled that such a finding is but a legal inference from other facts and as such is subject to review free of the restraining impact of the so-called “clearly erroneous rule” applicable to ordinary findings of fact by the trial court.1 The District Court, in its opinion, stated that it reached its fact-finding by way of “certain subjective or inference facts.” 2
In the instant case there was no commercial purpose to the trip. There was no pre-arranged consideration, nor, indeed, any subsequent offer or tender. The trip was not one for pleasure, to be sure, but it was a trip for the benefit of Mrs. Truitt and her son. They were present in the defendant’s automobile because Mrs. Truitt wanted a doctor to see her son. It was a trip made at her specific request.
There is no doubt on the record that the defendant made the trip because he wanted to be helpful. He had known Mrs. Truitt a long time, and, as he stated, he knew she did not have an automobile or any way of getting to the doctor.
The record shows an effort on the part of counsel for plaintiff to develop the motivation behind the defendant’s willingness to be helpful. In essence, it amounts to the fact that the defendant made the trip, first, because he was asked to do so by Mrs. Truitt. He also conceded that he did it for humanitarian reasons, because of his interest in the community, because he felt that as a good teacher he should have such interest, because he was interested in the boy, even as a teacher, and wanted him to get back into school. The syllogism could be closed with the conclusion that he helped the parties because he was a good teacher. The record also makes clear that the defendant is a person with a keen sense of community feeling and holds high concepts as to what a “good” teacher should be willing to do. In short, he is a dedicated person. The Court below recognized these facts. Neverthe*467less, it is also clear that the defendant was under no obligation because of his employment to do what he did; he was on his own time and at his own expense. The desire to help, the dedication, the will to do that which would enable the boy to return to school, arose not out of the defendant’s employment, but from the man himself. To some, a charitable act is taken at face value. To those who believe they know human nature better, as cynics, a good deed is committed for the personal gratification of the donor. If the defendant believed he was benefiting himself in furtherance of his chosen profession as a teacher, it was certainly an intangible benefit, that is, it would make him a better man, a better teacher, and would coincidentally, help the community, the school system, the boy and his mother. There is nothing in the record to show that he had something more material to gain. Indeed, it was not his duty or responsibility in his position within the Delaware school system to do what he did; he was not responsible for the attendance of the boy at school, nor was he obliged to visit him after school hours.
The long and short of this case is that the defendant voluntarily helped one who needed help and asked for it. To say that doing the deed bestowed a “benefit” upon the defendant in furtherance of his professional duties merely emphasizes the intangible and speculative nature of the psychic reward a teacher may feel in altruistically helping a student and his family after school hours.
The derivation of this kind of “benefit” from a humanitarian act is not “payment” within the meaning of the Delaware Statute.
The Delaware decisions clearly evidence that only the reaping of a tangible economic benefit meets the requirement of “payment” within the meaning of the guest statute.3
The majority points to the fact that in Dunn v. Stumbers, 174 A.2d 567 (Del. Super.Ct.1961), the Court referred to the decision of the Court below in this case. However, there, the Court accepted the conclusion of the Court below that there was a benefit to the defendant. On this appeal, we are, of course, concerned with the question whether the record supports that conclusion in such a manner as to constitute the benefit a payment under the statute.
Judges HASTIE and GANEY join in this dissent.

. Curtis Company v. Commissioner, 232 F.2d 167, 168 (3 Cir. 1956); Lehmann v. Acheson, 206 F.2d 592, 594 (3 Cir. 1953).

. Reported at 199 F.Supp. 143, 147 (D.C. Del.1961).

. Colombo v. Sech, 52 Del. (2 Storey) 575, 163 A.2d 270 (1960); Wilkes v. Melice, 48 Del. (9 Terry) 206, 100 A.2d 742 (1953), citing with approval, Kerstetter v. Elfman, 327 Pa. 17, 192 A. 663 (1937); Engle v. Poland, 47 Del. (8 Terry) 365, 91 A.2d 326 (1952); Robb v. Ramey Associates, Inc., 40 Del. (1 Terry) 520, 14 A.2d 394 (1940); Elliott v. Camper, 38 Del. (8 W.W.Harr.) 504, 194 A. 130 (1937).