"HOPELESS" CLAIM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 184, 7 August 1933, Page 9

"HOPELESS" CLAIM.

AGAINST THE CROWN.

UNEMPLOYMENT BOARD MEMBER.

NOT REAPPOINTED.

Holding that suppliant's claim was hopeless, judgment was given for the Crown, with costs according to scale, by Mr. Justice Reed in a reserved judgment this morning in the case in which George Finn, company manager, of Auckland, had claimed for £391 13/4 for alleged wrongful dismissal from the Unemployment Board.

His Honor said that the suppliant was gazetted one of the members of the Unemployment Board for a period of two years from November 20, 1930, and he acted as a member for a period of about eight months, when his occupancy of tlio position was terminated. "A new board, to which suppliant was not appointed, was set up," continued the judgment. "Fixed salaries were attached to the position. The suppliant had been receiving an allowance of £'- 2/ a day, and the board had sat continuously. He claimed damages for the wrongful termination of his employment. In order for suppliant to succeed, he must show the Crown's prerogative right, to dismiss him as a servant under the Crown at any time, without incurring liability for damages or compensation, has been restricted by the statute under which lie received his appointment."

In the present case, read the judgment, there was nothing in the nature of a contract. The suppliant was simply gazetted as appointed to the board, and could resign at any time. There was no provision for remuneration. The Minister of Finance could withhold his approval to anything but the merest nominal payment. There- was no animus contrahendi, an essential condition before a valid claim could Tie established against the Crown.