149 Mich. 567 | Mich. | 1907
Plaintiff was a member of and insured by the defendant order. Under the claim that he is totally and permanently disabled he brought this suit to recover on his contract of insurance.' The trial court directed a verdict in favor of defendant upon the ground that plaintiff did not exhaust his remedies in defendant’s order before bringing suit, and the correctness of this decision is the only question presented by this record. Was this decision right ? Did the trial court err in directing a verdict on the ground that plaintiff did not exhaust his remedies in the order before bringing suit ?
We state such facts as are necessary to a proper determination of this question. In January, 1900, plaintiff filed with defendant order a petition to be placed on the probationary list for total and permanent disability. (Until he was on this list six months he was not, under the laws of the order, entitled to the insurance sued for.) This petition, as required by the laws of the order, was submitted to the supreme chief ranger and he, on May 1, 1900, rendered a decision denying the same. Under the laws of the order plaintiff had a right to appeal from this decision to the executive council “within 20 days from the date of the decision,” and the laws also provided that “the parties interested shall be notified at once whenever a decision is made.” It was further provided that “any aggrieved party failing to take an appeal from any action or decision in the manner or within the time laid down in the constitution and laws of the order shall be bound by
The trial court erred in directing a verdict for defendant. The case should have been submitted to the jury.
Judgment reversed, and a new trial ordered.