Hall v. Boston Plate & Window Glass Co.
Hall v. Boston Plate & Window Glass Co.
Opinion of the Court
This case was heard upon agreed facts with power to draw inferences. The judge found for the defendant and the plaintiffs appealed.
It appeared that one Does, who was in the employ of the defendant, made an assignment of his wages on August 17, 1908, to the plaintiffs for two years, to secure a debt of $217.50 due from him to them. No notice of the assignment was given by the plaintiffs to the defendant, as required by St. 1906, c. 390, until June 25,1909, and the assignment was not recorded until August 2,1909. On January 9,1909, Does, who was still in the employ of the defendant, made another assignment of his wages, also for two years, to one Hills to secure a loan of $844 with interest at five per cent per annum. Hills had no notice of the prior assignment. He was informed by Does that there was no outstanding earlier assignment, and upon inquiry of the defendant was told that they had no notice of any. He also examined the records of the town of Winthrop, where Does lived, and found no assignment on record. Thereupon he made the loan and took the assignment aforesaid and caused it to be recorded
St. 1906, c. 390, is entitled “An Act relative to the assignment of wages,” and by § 6, “ All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.” Section 1 provides that no assignment of future wages shall be valid for a period exceeding two years from the date thereof, nor unless certain specified requirements are complied with. Section 2 provides that no such assignment shall be valid unless a copy is delivered to the assignor by the assignee at the time of the execution of the assignment, and that it shall not be binding on the employer of the assignor until a copy of it and an account conforming to the requirements thereinafter stated shall have been delivered to the employer. The plain implication of what is required to be done in order to make the assignment binding on the employer is that if that is done the assignment shall be binding on the employer according to its terms. This is borne out by the provisions in § 5 that “An assignment of wages made in accordance with the provisions of this act shall bind all wages earned by the assignor within the period named in such assignment.” The effect of the statute is, therefore, to render invalid as against a subsequent assignment where the requirements of the statute have been observed, a prior assignment where the requirements
The defendant was not bound to see to the appropriation of the wages paid to Hills by them. The only question is whether they were justified in paying them to Hills, and, as we have already said, we think that they were. Whether the plaintiffs have any remedy by means of a trustee process summoning Hills as trustee or otherwise to compel an accounting as between Hills and Does, it is not necessary now to consider.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Harry D. Hall & another v. Boston Plate and Window Glass Company
- Status
- Published