This case arose after employee Edwin J. Boeder was severely injured by an ice saw while working for employer Ira Kruger on January 17, 1944. Boeder petitioned for workers' compensation benefits against both Kruger and his purported insurer, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company; a referee awarded benefits against both, but the industrial commission reversed as to the insurer, finding no coverage in effect on the date of injury. The Minnesota Supreme Court, reviewing on certiorari, affirmed the commission's order. The court held that Kruger was not insured because he failed to meet the statutory and rating-bureau requirements for obtaining an assigned-risk policy, including timely submission of an application and premium, and that the bureau's designation of a carrier could not be effective without full compliance. The court rejected arguments for liberal construction that would impose coverage on the insurer to avoid a lapse caused by the employer's own delay.
This case concerned whether a debt of $3,838.79 owed by defendant Greenwald to Travelers Indemnity Company (and assigned to plaintiff) for unremitted insurance premiums was discharged in Green's bankruptcy. After the trial court found the debt dischargeable and entered judgment for defendant, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed on appeal. The court held that the parties' arrangement created an express trust, placing Greenwald in a fiduciary capacity when he collected and misappropriated the funds, so the debt fell within the exception to discharge in § 17a(4) of the Bankruptcy Act for fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation, or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity.
The case involved a dispute between partners in the Micromatic Metal Products Company, a business manufacturing war materials, where plaintiff Bliss sued defendant Griswold for an accounting of partnership assets and profits after alleging that Griswold had improperly transferred assets to a corporation he controlled, falsified records to understate profits, and refused a full accounting. The trial court issued an interlocutory order appointing a general receiver for the partnership business, with an alternative allowing a limited receivership over only the books and records if defendants posted a $250,000 bond within 24 hours. The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the order, holding that the evidence of asset transfers and accounting irregularities sufficiently supported the need for a receiver to preserve partnership property pending resolution of the accounting action, that the bond amount was justified by evidence of assets exceeding $487,000 in value, and that the limited receivership provisions including inventory authority were proper and reasonable.
The case involved a plaintiff who sued the Village of Hibbing for $3,350 in damages after sustaining injuries allegedly caused by the village's negligence in maintaining a public way, following service of the required statutory notice of claim. The plaintiff obtained a $625 verdict at trial, after which the village appealed from the judgment (without having moved for a new trial), claiming errors including insufficient evidence and an inadequate notice of claim. The court's review was narrowly limited to whether the evidence justified the verdict and whether the notice complied with Minn. St. 1945 § 465.09. It concluded that the evidence amply supported the verdict and that the notice was sufficient because it accurately enough identified the accident location for municipal officers to locate it through reasonable diligence, despite a minor inaccuracy in street naming. The judgment was therefore affirmed.
This case concerns a workers' compensation dispute in which employee Chris Baker, injured in 1940 while working for MacGillis Gibbs Company, challenged a reduction in benefits after the industrial commission found him only partially disabled from August 24, 1944, to August 1, 1945, with an earning capacity of $16.15 per week. The commission's referee had taken evidence and determined the reduced compensation rate of $7.71 per week for that period, and the commission affirmed. On certiorari, the court reviewed whether the evidence supported those findings of partial disability and earning capacity. Applying a deferential standard of review that upholds factual findings unless clearly contrary to the evidence, the court examined medical expert testimony indicating the employee could perform certain jobs and employment service testimony about available positions paying $75 to $117 monthly. The court concluded the evidence sustained the commission's determinations and therefore affirmed the order reducing payments.
The case involved tenants appealing a judgment in an unlawful detainer action that awarded possession of leased premises to the landlords after termination of a month-to-month lease by notice. The tenants sought a writ of prohibition to prevent the issuance of a writ of restitution pending the appeal. The court denied the writ, holding that under Minnesota statute § 566.11, the landlords' posting of a bond conditioned to pay costs and damages allowed the writ of restitution to issue immediately despite the appeal. The reasoning was that the trial court acted within its authority as the statute specifically permits this in lease termination cases, and challenges to the underlying findings, such as the validity of the termination notice, must be resolved on the direct appeal rather than through prohibition proceedings.
