Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

107 Misc. 4

Ker v. Stern

Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York · decided 1919-04-15

Appeal by plaintiff from a judgment of the Municipal Court of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, ninth district, dismissing the complaint at the close of the plaintiff’s case, after a trial by a judge without a jury.

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently October 1977

1 state decisions

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1919-04-15

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Bijur, J.

¶1This action was brought to recover damages for breach of a contract of employment under which the defendant employed the plaintiff, an actor, at a salary of seventy-five dollars a week.

¶2The terms other than the duration- of the contract were contained in a letter written by defendant to plaintiff dated July 12, T918. Plaintiff properly proved by paroi testimony, admitted without objection, that the contract was to continue for a period of thirty-seven weeks.

¶3Plaintiff, in his complaint, had pleaded that the contract of employment was made on or about July 12th, 1918.” The learned trial judge dismissed the complaint apparently upon the theory that this allegation restricted plaintiff to the letter of July twelfth, in which no definite term was stated, and which, n therefore, constituted merely a contract at will.

¶4' Defendant upon this appeal scarcely attempts to justify the dismissal upon this ground, but urges that upon the allegations of the complaint the Municipal Court had no jurisdiction over the action. This contention is based upon the demand for judgment at the rate of $75 a week with interest from the 19th of August, 1918, to the date of the trial of this action.” The argument advanced is that the complaint does not show that the amount demanded was less than $1,000, but that on the contrary since the contract was for thirty-seven weeks at $75 a week, presumably the amount of damages sought exceeds $1,000. In my opinion neither of these contentions is sound. The complaint, reasonably construed, seeks to recover *6damages for breach of contract up to the jurisdictional amount for which the court can render judgment, and the mere fact that no definite sum is stated does not deprive the Municipal Court of jurisdiction. See Mun. Ct. Code, § 180.

¶5Judgment reversed, new trial ordered, with thirty dollars costs to appellant to abide the event.

¶6Guy and Pendleton, JJ., concur.

¶7Judgment reversed, new trial ordered, with thirty dollars to appellant to abide event.

/107/misc/4 · .json · Public domain