180 Iowa 1019 | Iowa | 1917
For answer, defendant denied all allegations of the petition; denied that plaintiff ever furnished any notice of injury or proof of loss or disabilty within the time and in the manner and form provided in the by-laws, and that by reason thereof, there is no liability on the part of de
“No action of any kind or character shall be commenced in any court against the association to recover any benefit or indemnity provided for in this article unless the same shall be commenced within twelve months after the cause of action accrues, and after said period all liability of this association to such member, beneficiary or heirs for indemnity and benefits on account of such injuries shall cease and end.”
Defendant charged at the time of the commencement of this action that more than 12 months had elapsed after the cause of action therein had accrued, and that, by reason of all the foregoing, there was no liability. As to the nature of the injury and the effects of it, after stating how it occurred, plaintiff, as a witness, says:
*1022 “A swelling immediately arose. In a few moments I realized that I could not see out of that ej^e. I called upon Dr. Thomas. Within an hour or so after the accident occured, the sight returned to the left eye for a few seconds and then disappeared again, and has never returned since that time. I explained all these facts to Dr. Thomas, and he advised me to use hot and cold compress treatment, in the hope that the sight would be restored. Dr. Thomas explained to me, on my first visit, on September 29, 1913, that it would take three months’ treatment to accomplish the desired result. During all that time I applied the hot and cold compresses two or three times a day, and during all that time I was not able to see out of the eye. I had no sight in that eye from the time the injury was received, except a few moments that sight returned within an hour
“My understanding of the condition of my left eye after the injury and at the time of my consultation with Dr. Thomas was this: The sight of the eye was gone at that time, but there was a hope that this was only temporary, and that the hot and cold compress treatment might restore the sight. Having this hope, I consented to follow the prescribed treatment and did follow the same, but without successful result. The first time that I knew for certain that the eyesight was absolutely and forever gone,' was when I visited Dr. Thomas, January 12, 1914. Before that time I knew, of course, that I could not see out of the eye, but I was in hopes that this absence of sight was only temporary', and that the treatment would restore the sight. I discovered the loss of my eyesight immediately after the accident, but the sight returned in an hour or two after the accident, but only for a few moments, and then disappeared. I became totally blind .in the left eye within an hour or two after the accident.*1024 which occurred September 27, 1913. I know now that I was totally blind in the left eye within an hour or so after 1he accident occurred, but I did not realize this until Dr. Thomas made his examination, January 12, 1914.”
Plaintiff further states that, after the doctor advised him that his eyesight was gone, he notified defendant, ana accordingly mailed a letter or notice to defendant February 18, 1914, as follows:
“Oakland, Cal., February 18, 1914.
“Towa State Traveling Men’s Association,
“Mr. A. W. Rader, Secretary,
“Des Moines, Iowa.
“Dear Sir: The undersigned, James Lowe Christie Matheson, notifies you as follows : That I am the holder of certificate of membership No. 84467, of your association. That 1 am now and have been for the past twelve months employed as traveling salesman for Moore-Watson Dry Goods Company, Front and Market Street, San Francisco, California. On Saturday, September 27th, 1913, as my stepson, John O’Donnell, and I were riding in my buggy to the car line of Hayward, Alameda County, California, I met with an accident as described by Dr. Howard G. Thomas. As his notification gives a full report on the same, there is no necessity for my going into further detail at present. That, under the terms and conditions of your certificate of membership, I am entitled to receive from the above association for the loss of my left eye, $1,250, which I ask you to forward as soon as convenient for the association to do so. If the association has blank forms for notification of injury to its members, and blank proof of injury, I will ask you to forward any of such necessary blanks as you desire for me to fill, and I am willing to give you any other further proof of my injury that the association may require. I enclose herewith my physician’s notification and report to the said Traveling Men’s Association.*1025 Trusting that I may hear from you immediately, and that you will forward all necessary blanks for me to fill out for 'such notification and proof of injury, I am,
“Very sincerely,
“James Lowe Christie Matheson.
“No. 1202 Hampel Street, Oakland, Calif.”
This notice was received by the defendant company February 24, 1914. T)r. Thomas also sent a report to defendant as follows:
“Physician’s notification and report to the Iowa State Traveling Men’s Association, and to A. W. Bader, its secretary, of the examination of James Lowe Christie Matheson.
“The undersigned physician, Hayward G. Thomas, M. D., notifies the said association as follows: That he is a duly licensed and practicing physician under the laws of the state of California, having his offices at Booms 509-514, Dalziel Building, No. 532 15th Street, Oakland, California. That, on September 29, 1.913, at about half past turn o’clock P. M. thereof, the above named James Lowe Christie Matheson came to my office for medical examination and treatment. He stated to me that, on the preceding Saturday, viz., September 27, 1913, he had met with an accident when on his way to the railroad train at the town of Hayward, Alameda County, California, and that the accident occurred in this manner: That he ivas riding-in his buggy, when the horse drawing the same became frightened, turned the buggy quickly and threw him violently against the iron frame of the buggy, which struck him over the left eye. That upon careful and thorough examination of said Matheson, I found the injury resulting from striking the iron had caused hemorrhages in and around the left optic nerve, and caused blindness from atrophy of the left optic nerve. That the blindness of the left eye is total and permanent, and the sight thereof can*1026 never be restored. That I have given said Matheson medical treatment for the injured eye, and in' my opinion said blindness is not affected by any infirmity or disease existing previous to the accident, and that the disabilitj'’ was caused by the above mentioned accident. The right eye is normal.
“Hayward G. Thomas.
“Hated January 29, 1914, Oakland, California.”
Thereafter, plaintiff received from defendant the following:
“Iowa State Traveling Men’s Association.
(Letter Head.)
“Des Moines, Iowa, February 24, 1914.
“Mr. Jas. L. G. Matheson, 1202 Hampel St., Oakland, Calif. My Dear Sir: We have your letter of the 18th instant, and affidavit of Dr. Thomas, advising us that you sustained an injury on September ■ 27, 1913, which resulted in the loss of an eye. We are not sending you any blanks with the idea of leading you to believe that you are entitled to benefits from this association on account of your injury, inasmuch as more than four months have elapsed since you received such injury, and the by-laws of the association provide that notice of injury should be given within fifteen days, and that failure to give notice within sixty days invalidates any claim for indemnity. We regret the necessity of having to give you this advice, but under the circumstances, have no alternative.
“Yours very truly,
“Claim Dept. MR “J. S. Irish, Secretary.”
No blank proofs of loss were ever sent by defendant. The substance of the testimony of Dr. Thomas, and as set out by plaintiff, is as follows:
“I advised him that the hemorrhage in his eye was probably due to the injury he had received while riding in the buggy; that the sight of the left eye was impaired,*1027 but that tbe eyesight might be saved, and I so advised him and prescribed treatment for that purpose. I did not think that the sight was permanently gone then, or that the eye was permanently impaired in vision, and so I prescribed the hot and cold compress treatment. I first discovered that Matheson had lost the sight of his left eye on January 12, 1914. By January 12, 1914, I knew that the sight was permanently and absolutely gone. That was the first time that I knew it, but probably he had been blind permanently some time before that, because that process was a -gradual one; but he did not realize that the condition was permanent blindness, nor could he realize that until I so advised him, because the loss of vision or total blindness was due in his case to gradual atrophy of the optic nerve caused in turn by the violent blow. My present opinion is, looking back over the history of Ms case and the conditions in' all their phases, that Matheson was blind from the time of the accident, except in the hours when he says sight returned for a short while, but he did not realize this was permanent blindness and hopelessly so, nor did I, before January 12, 1914, because there was the hope that the optic nerve had not been permanently injured, and hence the sight might yet be saved. January 12, 1914, I made an ophthalmoscopic examination. That is, 1 took the patient in a dark room, and with an instrument made for that purpose I looked into the interior of his eye, and found the optic nerve dead, and -announced the sight totally gone and the man permanently and hopelessly blind in the left eye.”
The doctor also testified:
“I have practiced. 28 years. When plaintiff came to me, September 29, he was suffering with optic neuritis, with hemorrhage in the retina around the optic nerve. The sight of the left eye was impaired, but I thought the eyesight might be saved and so advised him, and I pro*1028 scribed certain treatment/for Mm. I examined Mm next on January 12, 1914. I found the optic nerve in the left eye dead. There were no arteries to be seen. This means that the arterial blood which nourishes the optic nerve retina was absolutely gone, and therefore the eye was blind. His condition on January 12, 1914, was in my opinion directly traceable to the original injury of September 27, 1913. If the treatment advised could absorb the hemorrhage, in my opinion the eye and 'sight could be saved, but when I saw him on January 12th, I found then that the sight was gone, and that the eye was absolutely blind.”
Section 3, Article VI, of the by-laws of defendant associa tion, provides, -among other things:
“Whenever a member in good standing shall through external,. violent and accidental means received bodily injuries which shall independently of all other causes result in the loss, within 90 days from said injuries of the entire ■sight of one eye, the member shall receive as indemnity the sum of $1,250. Provided, however, that the said member shall give, or cause to be given, due notice in writing to the secretary of the -association, giving date and place where, and the circumstances under which said injuries were received, also the nature of the injury sustained, together with the name and address of his medical attendant. Such notice shall be given the secretary of the association within 15 days after the date of injury is received, -and failure to give such notice within 60 days from the date of injury shall invalidate any claim or indemnity under his membership. No claim under this section shall be valid unless such written notice of said injuries shall have been sent to the secretary of the association as hereinbefore provided, and unless there shall be sent to the secretary of the association due preliminary proof of injuries, on blanks which will be provided by the -association upon request, setting*1029 forth the nature and the extent of the injuries sustained, together with a report of his attending physician.
“Sec. 4, Art. VI: Ho action of any kind or character shall be commenced in any court against this association to recover any benefit or indemnity provided for in this article unless the same shall be commenced within 12 months after the cause of action accrues, and after said period all liability of this association to such member, beneficiary or heirs for indemnity and benefits on account of such injuries shall cease and end. * * * This association shall not be liable to any member for any benefit or indemnity unless the notices of the injuries and proofs of disability are given and furnished this association within the several period of the time fixed. Any member failing to so furnish said notices and proofs shall forfeit all rights to said benefits, and this association in such case shall, without any acts of its officers so declaring, be released from any and all liability to the said member; his beneficiary or heirs on account of such injuries.”
Also, the provision before set out as a part of defendant’s amendment to answer. The defendant offered no evidence except the by-laws and the pleadings and filing dates, and the original notice. The original notice was placed in the hands of the sheriff April 21, 1915, and the petition was filed April 22, 1915.
Conceding that the record in the two cases is somewhat similar, it will be noted that the motion to strike the amendment in the Greenlee case was sustained, and the court held that, because the allowing of amendments is so largely within the discretion of the trial court, there was no error. So, in the instant case, had the trial court sustained plaintiff’s objection, or motion to strike, doubtless the holding would be the same. But in the instant case, the motion was overruled, and, under the same rule in regard to the discretion of the trial court, we think we ought not to interfere. The rule is to allow amendments, and to deny the right is the exception. The plaintiff did not ask for a continuance, so that the trial was not delayed. Furthermore, the defendant offered no evidence in the case except the files showing the dates of the commencement of the action, as bearing upon the statute of limitations provided for in the certificate. This was all known to the plaintiff as well as the defendant, and we are unable to see how plaintiff could have been surprised or' prejudiced. Under all the circumstances shown, we think there was no abuse of the discretion of the trial court such as to constitute reversible error. See Livingston v. Heck, 122 Iowa 74, 77; Mansfield v. Mallory, 140 Iowa 206, 209; Franzen v. Hutchinson, 94 Iowa 95; Daly v. Simonson, 126 Iowa 716; McCormick Mach. Co. v. Richardson, 89 Iowa 525.
“Upon the issue as to Avhether or not in fact his eyesight was totally lost within 90 days, there is no dispute.”
Appellant contends further that there is no dispute in the record but that plaintiff lmeAV from the first that he would not see, and that he had lost the entire sight of one eye, because plaintiff testified: “I became totally blind in the left eye within -an hour or tAvo after the accident.” Appellee also concedes in argument that the evidence is undisputed that plaintiff lost the sight of his eye Avithin 90 days from the date of the injury. Under this
Appellant contends that the court erred in submitting to the jury the issue as to whether plaintiff knew that he had lost his eyesight within 90 days from the receipt of bodily injuries, because of Section 3, Article VI of the bylaws. It cites Carnes v. Iowa S. T. M. A., 106 Iowa 281 286; Taylor v. Pacific Mut. Life Ins. Co., 110 Iowa 621, 623; Binder v. National M. A. Assn., 127 Iowa 25; International Trav. Assn. v. Rogers, (Tex.) 163 S. W. 421; Clarke v. Illinois, etc., Assn., 180 Ill. App. 300.
This matter, as to plaintiff’s knowledge of his blindness, will be referred to later, in so far as it appears to be necessary to discuss it, and in connection with the question of the limitation provided for in the contract and the statute, which we regard as the controlling point in the case.
It is also contended by appellant that no proofs of loss were furnished, and that a waiver as to furnishing the proofs of loss was not pleaded, and that, therefore, for this reason alone, there should have been a directed verdict for the defendant. Appellee states in argument that he never furnished any proofs to the defendant, and concedes that no waiver of proofs was pleaded by either party. Appellant concedes the two foregoing propositions in substantially the same language used by appellee. We apprehend that this argument is made by plaintiff to escape the argument as to the matter of the limitation provided in the certificate and statute, because they say that the difficulty of the case rests in the fact that we have no definite time at which the 40 days provided by statute begins to run, because, as they say, plaintiff never furnished any proofs of loss to the defendant, but the fault for this was on defendant, for the reason that it failed to furnish blanks. In other words,
For the reasons given, the judgment is Reversed, on defendant’s appeal and remanded for further proceedings