Felpel v. Hershour

Citations

• 128 Pa. 587
• 18 A. 419
• 1889 Pa. LEXIS 820

Syllabus

<p>1. The provisions of § 7, act of March 20,1810, 5 Sm. L. 165, that a defendant in a suit before a justice of the peace, who shall neglect or refuse to set off therein any demand he may have against the plaintiff, not exceeding $100, shall be forever debarred from recovering it by any after suit, embraces a set-off for the wages of manual labor.</p> <p>2. The various acts since passed, giving special protection to claims for wages of manual labor, such as those requiring bail for debt and interest on appeal, giving priority of trial and abolishing stay and exemption from execution, in suits thereon, are not inconsistent with, and do not repeal said provision of the act of 1810.</p> <p>3. A defence to an action for wages, that a prior suit, still pending, was brought against the plaintiff by the defendant before a justice of the peace, in which the claim for wages might and should have been set off under § 7, act March 20, 1810, is not in the nature of a plea in abatement, but is essentially a plea in bar of the action.</p> <p>4. Yidetur: If a defendant sued before a justice sets off a counter-claim for wages, and judgment is rendered in his favor thereon, the relation of the parties is so changed that the plaintiff, on appealing from such judgment, should give bail for the amount of the set-off and interest, as well as for costs, in accordance with the act of April 20, 1876, P. L. 43.</p>