O'Brien v. Sexton

Citations

• 140 Ill. 517
• 30 N.E. 461

Syllabus

<p>1. Master and servant—servant improperly discharged—right of recovery. Where a contractor employed to furnish materials and to do certain work has been improperly prevented by the employer from completing the contract, or,' in other words, has been improperly discharged from the performance of the work before its completion, he may recover, under the common counts, what is due him for the work he has actually performed under the contract.</p> <p>2. Where a servant is discharged, without sufficient legal excuse, before the expiration of his term, he may elect to treat the contract as rescinded, and at once bring an action for the value of the services rendered.</p> <p>3. Statute of Limitations—when it begins to run. Where there is no special contract, the law will imply an agreement to pay for the materials as delivered and the work as done; but when one continuous piece of work, consisting of a number of parts or items, is to be performed, the Statute of Limitations does not begin to run upon the completion of each separate part or item, but upon the completion of the whole. If the several items are merely parts of one transaction, the statute begins to run from the date of the last item.</p> <p>4. Same—action for wrongful discharge of servant—when barred. Where a workman is forced to abandon work he has agreed to perform, before its completion, by or through the wrongful act of his employer, a cause of action for the breach of the contract will at once accrue, and the Statute of Limitations will commence to run from the time he is so prevented, and a suit to recover damages for a breach of the contract will not be barred before the expiration of five years from that time.</p> <p>5. Where the plaintiff was employed, by a written contract, to furnish the materials and do all the plastering on certain buildings, and performed most of the work, when he was prevented by the defendant, the employer, from completing his contract, and he brought an action to recover for