Court Opinion

ID: 9863174
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 03:09:39.399209+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:47:49.265434
License: Public Domain

George Rose Smith, Justice, concurring. I should like to emphasize, somewhat more than the majority have done, the extent to which the equities in the case favor the claimant, Wood. Under the proposed settlement he will receive $78,000 in settlement of a claim which might well be worth $200,000 if he won the case before a jury. The Co-op’s liability, however, is by no means certain; in the event of a trial Wood might recover nothing. As a matter of simple justice he ought to be able to settle his claim as best he can. On the other hand, St. Paul stands, after the settlement, exactly as it did before the settlement. That is, it is free to sue the Co-op in Wood’s name, so that as far as the jury is concerned the case will ostensibly be a genuine lawsuit brought by Wood. Yet, in attempting to block the settlement, St. Paul is in the attitude of being unwilling either to take the risk itself that it would force Wood to take or to indemnify Wood (as he has requested) for the loss of $78,000 if Wood proceeds with his lawsuit against the Co-op and loses. In such a situation our rule that the compensation act must be construed liberally in favor of the workman is peculiarly and demonstrably just.