Secretary of State v. Hanover Insurance

The state brought five causes of action upon a fidelity bond and appeals from an adverse judgment entered upon a directed verdict.

The issue upon trial was whether certain officers, admittedly covered by the defendant’s bond, had caused the state “a loss of money * * * through any failure of official duty * * which was the condition of the bond.

While the state, as plaintiff, has the ultimate burden of proving that it lost money through the failure of its bonded officers to perform their duties properly (to account), it may, by putting on a prima facie case, require the defendant bonding…