Engle v. Pottsville Division No. 90

Citations

• 66 Pa. Super. 356

Syllabus

<p>Beneficial associations — Expulsion of member — Remedies provided by by-laws — Jurisdiction of the courts.</p> <p>Where the constitution and by-laws of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, an unincorporated association, provide that when charges are made against a member, the chief engineer of the division to which the member belongs, shall bring the charge to the notice of the members present at the first regular meeting and appoint a committee of three to investigate them, and report at the next regular meeting, and that a vote of the members shall be taken by ballot after a trial of which the member shall have notice, and the member if aggrieved, may appeal to the grand chief engineer, and'the Grand International Division, and it appears that a member was expelled on charges made against him by the grand chief engineer based upon an alleged violation of a by-law enjoining membership in other labor organizations, and that at the next regular meeting of the division to which the member belonged, he was expelled without any committee having been appointed to investigate, and without any subsequent meeting and trial as provided by the by-laws. In such a ease it is immaterial that the member may have appealed to the grand chief engineer, and also to the Grand International Division in the manner provided by the by-laws, inasmuch as these tribunals acted merely in an appellate capacity.</p> <p>In such a case the grand chief engineer prejudged the rights of the plaintiff in directing the charges to be preferred, in deciding the validity of these charges, and finally, as the presiding officer of the Grand International Division, in confirming his former decisions.</p> <p>Equity — Equity practice — Demurrer—Admission of facts set out in bill.</p> <p>When a defendant in an equity suit interposes a demurrer as a defense, he admits the truth pf the material facts set out in the bill, but denies that they are sufficient to justify the court in granting the relief praye