Smith v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

Page, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The declaration in this case alleges that Philemon James Smith, employed in the service of the B. & O. R. R. Co., entered into an agreement with that company, whereby he was .received into membership in “ The Relief Feature for natural death benefit” of the company; that by this agreement, in consideration of the payment by the said Smith of certain dues, said Railroad Company, upon the death of said Smith, was to pay tó a beneficiary or beneficiaries named in the application for membership of the said Smith, in the event of his death, the sum of one thousand dollars, leaving or permitting the said Smith to name said beneficiary, with the restriction, however, that if he should be married, it must be to his wife or children, or if he be single, in the sense of not having been married, and having no children, it must be his father or mother, or the survivor, and that no one could be entitled as a beneficiary who was not the widow or a relation not more remote than a first cousin, or if no such beneficiary should be named or should be living at the time of the member’s decease, then the death benefit was to be paid to the party or parties who were next of kin, as determined by the laws of the State of Maryland. That said Smith was married to the mother of this plaintiff, from whom she was divorced a vinculo matrimonii, by a decree of the Circuit Court for Frederick County, in Equity, with the statutory restriction prohibiting the said Smith from subsequently marrying during the lifetime of the plaintiff’s mother, who is still living. That said Smith named as beneficiary, to receive said benefit, a certain party imtruthfully ⁴¹⁴ alleged by him in his said application to be his wife.

That said Smith was not single in the sense provided for by the contract entered into between the said company and the said Smith.” The narr further alleges, that all payments to entitle the .next of kin, &c., were made; that the plaintiff is the only child and next of kin of the said Smith (who died on the 12th April, 1891), he being the child of the said Smith and of his wife to whom said Smith had been married, and is therefore entitled to claim the said benefit. The defendant demurred ; the Court sustained the demurrer, and on entering its judgment the plaintiff appealed. At the hearing below, it was agreed between the parties “ that the regulations governing the Relief Department of • the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company shall be filed as a part of the declaration as a whole.” The “ Relief Feature” of the “ Relief Department of the B. & O. R. R. Co.,” as appears from the regulations, has for its objects the “ relief to its members entitled thereto when they are disabled by injury or sickness, and to their families in the event of their death.” Membership is voluntary to certain specified classes, but obligatory upon all others in the service, “ as a condition of employment or advancement.” To entitle an employee to participate in the relief afforded by the “ Relief feature,” he must execute an application in one of the forms prescribed in the regulations, and pass a satisfactory medical examination ; and this application, when accepted by the superintendent, constitutes a contract of employment. One of the provisions of the application is as follows: “ I understand and agree, that this application, when accepted by the superintendent, shall constitute a contract between me and the said company, by