Sallade v. Schuylkill County

Citations

• 19 Pa. Super. 191
• 1902 Pa. Super. LEXIS 60

Syllabus

<p>Public officers — Poor law — Illegal agreement as to division of officers.</p> <p>, An agreement between two out of three members of a poor board by which the appointments to offices are divided between them, and by which each binds himself to vote for any person that the other may name for a position to be filled by the board, without knowing who would be named, is illegal, immoral and contrary to public policy; but notwithstanding the illegality of such an agreement, if a person is appointed clerk of the board ¡n pursuance thereof, and performs the seryfees of the office, he will he entitled to his salary, if it appears that he was in no way connected with the illegal contract, either as principal or accessory.</p> <p>It is perfectly proper for a trial judge to rebuke the conduct of the members of a poor board in entering into an illegal contract for the division of the appointments to the offices within their control.</p> <p>In an action by the clerk of a poor board to recover his salary, where it appears that the plaintiff was appointed at a regular meeting by a majority of the board, and it also appears that at the same meeting plaintiff’s predecessor was dismissed, it cannot be set up as a defense to the action that the creation of the vacancy involved a breach of contract with plaintiff’s predecessor in office.</p>