Home Indemnity Co. v. Missouri (78 F.2d 391, 1935)

WOODROUGH, Circuit Judge.

This is an action by the state of Missouri upon a surety bond given by the Southern Surety Company, a New York corporation, as principal, and the appellant, Home Indemnity Company, as surety, to qualify the principal to continue to carry on its compensation insurance business in Missouri. The action is for the use and benefit of any and all persons, firms, and corporations entitled to compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Law of the state of Missouri (Mo. St. Ann. § 3299 et seq., p. 8229 et seq.) on policies issued by the Southern Surety Company. The case was tried to the court without the intervention of a jury, and, from a judgment in favor of plaintiff, the surety, Home Indemnity Company, prosecutes this appeal.

On September 11, 1928, the Southern Surety Company of New York was licensed and authorized by the insurance department of the state of Missouri to issue to employers its policies of insurance under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Its certificate of authority was renewed annually on the 1st day of March and remained in full force and effect until March 1, 1932.

In July, 1931, the surety company was notified by the superintendent of insurance of the state of Missouri that, in accordance with section 5935 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri 1929 (Mo. St. Ann. § 5935, p. 4525), known as the “Retaliatory Clause,” the company would be required to furnish a bond or deposit in the same form and amount as had been required by the state of New York of Missouri corporations doing business in the state of New York under the provisions of Workmen’s Compensation Act, § 54, chapter 66 of Cahill’s Consolidated Laws of New York 1930. Theretofore no such bond had been required from the Southern Surety Company as a condition of its authority to issue compensation policies in Missouri.

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