CLAIM FOR WAGES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 1859, 8 September 1923, Page 5

CLAIM FOR WAGES.

MAGISTRATE ORDERS PAYMENT.

At-the Magistrate's Court on Tuesday the Pullman, Ltd., Timber Company were called on by Oswald Coombridge and Walter J. Coombridge to disprove two claims for wages amounting to £2O in each case. Mr E. Mackersey (Broadfoot, Finlay and Mackersey) appeared for plaintiffs, and Mr A. F. Howarth (Hine, Howarth and Vernon) represented the defendant company. The first witness was Walter Coombridge, boardinghouse proprietor, Waimiha, who said that a man named McLean represented himself as manager for Pullman, Ltd. Witness and his brother were employed by McLean to load timber, though no agreement as to wages was made at the time. Witness took it for granted that he would receive the same payment as the other men doing the same work. He was employed from February 12 to March 30. Five or six weeks after being engaged by McLean, witness obtained a promise of payment from the latter, but the money had not turned up. McLean had told him that his brother's wages had been assessed at £4 weekly to an insurance company when he was injured. McLean had left in witness's charge books containing letter heads and certain correspondence seeming to establish him as Pullman's manager. Mr Quarterly, of Auckland, Pullman's Ltd., managing director, had approached witness after a summons had been issued against the firm, suggesting a compromise. -

Oswald Coombridge, brother of the previous witness, corroborated the latter's evidence in regard to accepting employment offered by McLean, whom he understood to be the manager of the Pullman's timber mill.

Under cross-examination by Mr Howarth, witness said he did mechanical work on the lorry in wet weather, though his brother did not always work in wet weather.

G. Hitchcock, builder and contractor, Te Kuiti, said he had frequent dealings with Pullman, Ltd., and knew McLean as manager.

At the request of counsel, witness produced several cheques paid by him to the defendant company. The cheques were banked, and carried the endorsement of "Pullman, Ltd. F. J. McLean, proprietor." The evidence of F. J. McLean, which had been taken at Auckland, was preduced and taken as read. Mr Howarth said his instructions were that McLean had no authority to employ anybody on behalf of the company, but in the face of the evidence produced showing that McLean's endorsement of cheques had apparently guaranteed his managerial position, he could not seriously combat this point. He would point out, however, that Oswald Coombridge had admitted that his brother had not worked full time in wet weather, and therefore asked that the latter's claim be reduced. -

The Magistrate held that McLean must be recognised as the company's manager. He could not see how the company could get over the claim. He would take into consideration counsel's remarks re time lost by W. J. Coombridge. Under the circumstances, he thought it would be a fair thing to award Oswald Coombridge £2O and W. J. Coombridge £ls, with costs in each case, and judgment would be entered accordingly.