Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-11-02

1t was as follows: The court ayro.,
with the defendant that in conseonene
Of the illegality Of the discharge ~ ~
plaintiff the contract of employmer,
had still been binding. But the LETT
written by the defendant to the nl,f,,
tiff was construed as enforcing M.
the latter vacation Of indefin:,a
length.
This treatment the plaintiff was /,
no wise bound 20 accept Moreove.
the court discovered in the entire a.
titude OF the subdirector toward III.
clerk a disrespect which, again. IN,
nished the latter with sufficient ero,na
for dissoIving the relations betw.aa
them. The defendants motion w.a
therefore thrown out the tennorar.
order suspended, and the obligation ).
pay the two hundred marks rernajnsa
in force.
Other cases followed some Of whio,
were decided in favor Of til. mar
chants, some in favor of the clerks
When ! went away it was with III
determination to come again. Cpon
investigation / found that the Law
establishing the Merchants court had
gone into effect January lst, 1906. and
was but the extension Of an earlia-
law establishing "Gewerbegerich.
or Craftsman'S Court. The latter has
jurisdiction over cases between work
ingmen and employers who do not fan
under the legal definition of merchants
This employers and workingmen'.
court is composed like the merchants
court, and the manner Of procedure a
the same. A jurist presides-often the
same one who conducts the merchant,
cOurt-and the four "beistZer" or ca.
members of the court are elected. two.
from the ranks Of workingmen
two from the ranks Of their employers.
Within a few days case in this
"Gewerbegericht" was heard in the
same room as the case in the mer.
chants court described above, and the
same juri.st presided. In this case fac
tory hand sued a factory owner, his
employer for fifty-seven marks sixty
pfennig for discharging him without
notice and legal cause. The plaintiff
stated that upon his engagement by
the employer no agreement had been
made concerning notice. He therefore
claimed a right to the legal notice Of
two weeks in the case of factory hands.
The immediate cause of his discharge,
he admitted, was diSobedience; ii was
but a single case of disObenience, how
ever; and could not be regarded as le-
gal cause for discharge without no
tice. Since, therefore. notice had been
denied him without legal cause, he
claimed the wages for the time as his
right.
The defendant said that his help had
Gle
around by his foreman to the effect
that thencefOrward the right Of legal
notice should be waived on both sides
The plaintiff replied that he had re-
fused to sign the paper referred 70
The defendant had not known that
He had relied upon the foreman, who
had not notified him of the exception.
He had however. discharged the plain
tiff for disebedience, which he cOnsid-
cred a sufficient ground in itself for
discharge without notice.
The decision was that in the absence
pf a special agreement, the plaintiff
was entitled to a legal notice of tw'
weeks, that legal ground for discharge
without notice was to be furnished not
by single act of disobedience but by
habitual disobedience, which in this
therefore showed that. without legal
cause. the plaintiff had been discharged
without notice. The defendant was
accordingly sentenced to pay to the
plaintiff the sum demanded.
From these cases it was clear:
That there exists a mutual legal
right to notice of intention to sever the
relations Of employer and employed;
That the duration of this notice va
ries for different classes of employees;
That the right may be in particular
cases abrogated by mutual consent. by
habitual disobedience on the part of the
employee. or by pronounced disrespect
in the conduct OF the one party toward
the other;
That no employer has a right to en-
force an indefinite vacation upon an
employee, arbitrarily and unneces-
sarily.
Further inquiry into the constitution
and workings of this double court
elected the following information:
The city government Of Hanover
consists of "Magistrat." or grand
council and representative body
elected by the buerger, or citizens. The
'magistrat' is composed Of members
elected by the representative body from
among candidates who present them
selves, and one of these is elected as
or mayor. The
corresponds very closely
o the ministry in the national govern
rent Each member has his par
ocular department Of the governmental
of the city to oversee.
while the buergermeister superin-
ends all. The members of this
nagistrat are with equal prOpriety re-
erred to as Senatoren and as Stad-
raete, (Senators and COuncillOrs). In
lividing among themselves the several
branches of work to be done, the Sena-
oren agree who shall from time to
line preside over the sessions of the
iewerbe -und Kaufmannsgericht. When
was present the presiding jurist was
Grote.
The purpose of the establishment OF
he court is fOurfold:
First. it conduces to just decisions by
uniting in the constitution of the court
alent expert in the law and in the