William Charles Ellgass v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Insurance Department, Inc.

The appellant, hereinafter called plaintiff, sued the appellee, hereinafter called defendant, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division. That court had jurisdiction because of the diversity of citizenship of the parties. That court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant, and the plaintiff has appealed to this court from that judgment.

The suit is for money which, the plaintiff claims, the defendant owes him on a policy of insurance issued to him by the defendant in 1939. The defendant is a labor union, and one of its activities is to furnish to members of the union, in consideration of the payment of specified premiums, certain kinds of life, accident and health insurance. In 1939 the plaintiff was a brakeman on the Pennsylvania Railroad and a member of the defendant union. He applied for and the defendant issued to him the “certificate” or policy of insurance upon which this suit is based.

The plaintiff’s policy, in its Parts One and Two, provided for payments of specified sums to the insured if he, by accident, suffered certain named injuries, the loss of both eyes, the loss of one foot, etc., being examples of…