Lawrence Eugene Carver v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

WISDOM, Circuit Judge.

Lawrence Carver, appellant, was injured in an accident that occurred when the automobile in which he was a passenger was hit by a truck driven by an ice cream vendor named Otis Gibson. The truck bore a sign advertising Melba ice cream. In the mistaken belief that Gibson was an employee or agent of the Melba Ice Cream Company of New Orleans, Louisiana, Carver sued Melba’s insurer under the Louisiana Direct Action Statute, LSA-R.S. of 1950, 22:655. For reasons of his own, the plaintiff did not join Gibson as a co-defendant: joinder of the alleged tortfeasor, however, would…