Pardey v. Am. Ship Windlass Co.

• Citation: 19 R.I. 461,34 A. 737
• Parties: PARDEY v. AMERICAN SHIP WINDLASS CO.
• Decision Date: 28 April 1896
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Rhode Island

34 A. 737

19 R.I. 461

PARDEY

v. AMERICAN SHIP WINDLASS CO.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

April 28, 1896.

Case certified from district court, Sixth district.

Action by Harold O. Pardey against the American Ship Windlass Company, for wages earned by plaintiff's son. Case certified. Remitted, with directions to enter judgment for defendant.

Hayes & Hayes, for plaintiff.

Arnold Green, for defendant.

MATTESON, C. J. We are of the opinion that the action cannot be maintained. By the terms of the agreement, the one dollar per week from the wages of the plaintiff's son, Frank Brown Pardey, retained by the defendant, was not payable until the expiration of three years, during which he was to remain in the defendant's employment. This term did not expire until April 17, 1896, and the suit was brought February 8, 1896, and consequently before the money was payable in any event. But, apart from this consideration, the plaintiff is not entitled to the money. The agreement provides for its payment, not to the plaintiff, but to his son. By confirming and approving the agreement between the son and the defendant, the plaintiff, in effect, emancipated his son, so far as the wages earned under the contract were concerned, and gave the wages to his son. They became, therefore, the property of the son, and not the property of the plaintiff. Case remitted to the district court of the Sixth judicial district, with direction to enter judgment for the defendant for costs.