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44 Ill. 476

Koester v. Esslinger

Illinois Supreme Court

Decided June 15, 1867

Illinois Supreme Court · decided 1867-06-15

Clair county; the Hon. J. Gillespie, Judge, presiding. This was an action of assumpsit, originally brought by the appellee against the appellant, in the City Court of East St. Louis, where a trial was had, and judgment rendered for §71 and costs of suit. Appellant appealed from this judgment to the Circuit Court of St. Clair county, and judgment was there rendered in favor of appellee for §300; whereupon, the defendant below brings the cause to this court by appeal.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1867-06-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 3 later decisions — most recently January 1902

3 state decisions

1018671870188018901900decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Hr. Justice Lawrence

¶1delivered the opinion of the Court:

¶2It was proved in this case that the plaintiff worked for the defendant, in his wagon shop, from September, 1864, to April, 1866, with the exception of about three months. The only controversy was, whether he had been paid. The parties were both sworn. The plaintiff testified he had been paid in all only §235. The defendant testified he had paid him in full. The jury gave the plaintiff a verdict for §300, which was" far too small if they believed the testimony of the plaintiff. But the testimony of the defendant is strongly corroborated by that of other witnesses. Other workmen in the same shop swore, that defendant paid his men generally every week, and never delayed longer than two weeks, and that they had seen the plaintiff paid nearly every week. These statements, considered in connection with the great improbability that the plaintiff would continue at work until, according to his own statement, his wages unpaid amounted to nearly §1,000, while the other workmen were paid in full every week or fortnight, compel us to regard the verdict as clearly against the evidence. We think there should be another trial.

¶3Judgment reversed.

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