James M. Parsons

This case involved a beneficiary's suit against New York Life Insurance Company to recover double indemnity under a life insurance policy on Andy L. Clausen after his accidental death in 1936. The policy, issued in 1930, provided for $1,000 coverage or $2,000 for accidental death, but included terms for lapse upon nonpayment of premiums, conversion to temporary insurance based on cash surrender value, and exclusion of double indemnity from such temporary or paid-up coverage. After the insured defaulted on premiums and a premium lien note in 1934-1935, the insurer applied the cash value to purchase $960 of temporary insurance expiring January 9, 1936; the insured died on March 21, 1936. The court held that the temporary insurance expired before the death, that no additional grace period extended coverage, and that double indemnity did not apply, reversing the lower court and directing judgment for the defendant.

business & regulatory

The case involved a farmer who purchased commercial fertilizer for use on his potato and vegetable crops, paid the 2% Iowa retail sales tax on the purchases totaling $91.89, and then sought a refund from the State Board of Assessment and Review on the ground that the fertilizer was used for 'processing' tangible personal property and thus exempt under the sales tax statute. The Board denied the claim, the district court dismissed the appeal after trial, and the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed. The court reasoned that applying fertilizer to promote crop growth constitutes growing rather than processing, that the fertilizer becomes part of the real estate once placed in the soil, and that growing crops are not tangible personal property subject to the processing exemption; it further noted that a later legislative amendment expressly exempting commercial fertilizer had no retroactive effect.

taxespropertybusiness & regulatory

The case involved Dr. McMurray suing his former employee Dr. Faust to enforce a non-compete clause in a written one-year employment contract, seeking to bar Faust from practicing medicine and surgery in Jasper County, Iowa, for five years after April 1, 1935. The district court granted a temporary injunction ex parte, later dissolved it on motion, but then issued a permanent injunction after a full trial on the merits using the same evidence. The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed, ruling that the contract's non-compete provision was valid and enforceable, that failure to execute a follow-on contract did not invalidate the restriction, and that dissolution of the temporary injunction did not require dismissal of the action when the evidence supported permanent relief.

business & regulatorylabor & employment

In Sullivan v. Harris, plaintiff Grace Sullivan sued Dr. and Mrs. E.E. Harris for damages from injuries sustained in an automobile accident during a trip from Iowa to Minneapolis, alleging that Mrs. Harris had hired her to help drive in exchange for paying her expenses and that Mrs. Harris's negligence caused the crash. The defendants denied liability and moved for a directed verdict, arguing that Sullivan was a guest passenger under Iowa's guest statute and had neither alleged nor proven recklessness. The court reversed the lower court's ruling after determining that the parties were personal friends on an informal trip with no contract for hire, that Sullivan therefore qualified as a guest rather than a nongratuitous passenger, and that the absence of any recklessness allegation or evidence required dismissal of the claims.

torts & liability

Martha Shirkey sued Keokuk County, its board of supervisors, and employee William Kelly for personal injuries from a collision between her husband's automobile and a county tractor pulling a maintainer on a public road after sunset; she alleged Kelly drove negligently without required lights, on the wrong side of the road, and that the county and supervisors knew the equipment was improperly equipped and Kelly was incompetent. The defendants demurred, asserting the county enjoyed governmental immunity from tort liability for negligence in performing road-maintenance duties imposed by law and that this immunity extended to its officers and employees. The court affirmed dismissal of the claims, ruling that counties as quasi-municipal corporations are not liable for the torts of their agents or servants engaged in governmental functions, that no statute imposed such liability, and that the same immunity protected the individual defendants, leaving any expansion of responsibility to the legislature.

torts & liability

The case involved R.E. Doonan suing the City of Winterset for damages after being terminated from his position as superintendent of the city's electric light and power plant. Doonan claimed breach of a two-year employment contract approved by the prior city council via a mayoral tie-breaking vote in February 1935. The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court's judgment in favor of Doonan, holding that the contract was invalid because it lacked approval by a majority of the entire elected council members and improperly attempted to bind the successor council beyond the term of the outgoing officials.

labor & employmentbusiness & regulatory