Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1928 [PAGE 750]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1928]

UNIVERSITY O F ILLINOIS

747

"Thirdly and lastly, it will be a regular part of the contract of employment that the employee agrees to the arrangement heretofore outlined, and stipulates that a part of his salary, in accordance with the plan suggested above, m a y be retained by the Business Office of the University, in order to discharge a premium for protection in case of accidents. " T o summarize: the plan rests upon a contract with each individual employee; in fixing his salary the anticipated cost of insurance protection will be taken into account, his salary fixed, in accordance with the extra hazard to which he is exposed, due to the relative frequency with which he m a y be called upon to drive a motor vehicle during the year, and an amount of his salary corresponding to the premium will be deducted and retained to discharge the premium, in accordance with the agreement. The whole amount thus expended for a premium on a group insurance policy will be treated as a part of the salary of the members of the staff, w h o incidentally operate motor vehicles, and the entire amount will be charged to the salary account of the University. "There are considerations of public policy which powerfully support the Board in putting into execution the foregoing plan. A s you are aware, the University, being an agency of the state, is not liable for the torts of its employees; consequently a member of the public injured through the negligence of an employee of the University would be left entirely without a remedy, except possibly a resort to the Court of Claims, in those cases where the employee himself is not financially responsible. It is not conducive to the maintenance of that good will which ought to characterize the attitude of the public towards its highest educational agency when such agency, in a response to a claim for damages which the ordinary private individual would have to honor in like circumstances, merely answers by saying that it is not liable. In those cases where the damage is small the remedy in the Court of Claims is, of course, wholly inadequate. "If there be any other matters of fact which you would like information on before writing an opinion, I should be glad to help you if I can." It appears to m e that the situation, which you have outlined, and the plan which you have given to meet the situation are such that the very force of necessity applies. I a m of the opinion that the fact that employees of the University will receive private benefits if the proposed insurance is procured and your plan adopted will not have the effect of making the proposed act in the premises on the part of the University illegal. The plan which you have proposed appears to m e to be one which will be the least expensive of any that could be conceived of and the private benefits to the employees will be in each instance commensurate with the need and the expense for the protection. A s I understand the situation you are confronted with a loss of efficiency in the premises and it is the desire of the University to overcome it by a plan which, while procuring to the University the thing it needs, will at the same time be the least expensive. T o make a bare requirement (without the advantage to you of the premium saving scheme in your plan) that every employee who, in the course of his employment, is compelled to operate a University owned motor vehicle, or an employee who, as an incident to his employment, m a y at times operate a University owned motor vehicle, shall procure liability insurance would be very expensive to the employees and such expense would be reflected in greatly increased salaries. If I understand your plan correctly, the insurance cost to the University will be a minimum, and will give full protection for each instance in which a University employees will, in the car causes damage, and the increased salonly the the owned and operated aggregate, be small and such as to cover aries of actual need.