United States Fire Insurance v. Transport Indemnity Co.

This judgment in declaratory relief determines which of two insurance companies is ultimately liable to a workman injured by the negligence of other workmen when removing telephone poles from a truck.

The Facts

Arthur C. Walker was employed as a driver by Speedy Transport, Inc., a corporate carrier. The vehicle was employed in moving a load of telephone poles from Stockton to Sacramento by contract for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company. Arrangements had been made with the McLaughlin Draying Company to unload the poles at Sacramento, and that organization sent two of its employees, Charles W. Rose and Edward Geigle, to do the required work. Concededly, they acted negligently and, as a proximate result, Mr. Walker was injured. He filed a suit against various defendants, including the McLaughlin Draying Company, which was charged with having so “negligently unloaded” the truck as to cause the poles to strike and injure Walker. The list of parties in the complaint includes two fictitious defendants employed by McLaughlin Draying Company; it is conceded that Messrs. Rose and Geigle were the persons referred to.

At the time of the accident, three policies of insurance were…