Allen v. Colliery Engineers' Co.

Citations

• 196 Pa. 512
• 46 A. 899
• 1900 Pa. LEXIS 548

Syllabus

<p>Master and servant — Wrongful discharge — Right of action^ — Former recovery.</p> <p>An employee for a fixed period who has been wrongfully discharged may either treat the contract as existing and sue for his salary as it becomes due, not on a quantum meruit, but by virtue of the special contract, his readiness to serve being considered as equivalent to actual service, or he may sue for the breach of contract at once or at the end of the contract period, but for the breach he can have but one action.</p> <p>Where an employee wrongfully discharged has recovered a judgment against his employer before the termination of the period of service, such judgment will not be conclusive against him in a subsequent action, if it appears that it was only for salary due at the time the first action was brought.</p>