30 A.2d 177 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1942
Argued November 10, 1942. Assumpsit. Before SHANAMAN, J.
Verdict directed for plaintiff in amount of his claim less outside earnings and judgment entered thereon. Plaintiff appealed. Plaintiff, having attained civil service status, was permanently employed as a fire alarm operator in the Bureau of Electricity in the City of Reading by resolution of council, effective June 1, 1938 at a yearly salary of $1560. He was dismissed on September 4, 1940 but, before the question of the propriety of his removal was determined by the Civil Service Commission, the city council on October 30, 1940 rescinded its prior resolution of dismissal. The city however continued to bar plaintiff from performing any of the duties of his employment and immediately preferred charges against him. After hearing, the Civil Service Commission determined that the charges were unfounded and ordered his reinstatement on June 19, 1941. Plaintiff then brought this action to recover full pay for the period, amounting to $1235. He admits that while excluded from his employment with the city he earned $402.72 for services performed elsewhere. The lower court directed a verdict for plaintiff for the full amount of his back pay with interest, less the amount of his earnings in other employment during the period. Plaintiff in this appeal questions the city's right of set-off.
We are not in disagreement with the principle of *228
cases in other States relied on by plaintiff (of whichFitzsimmons v. City of Brooklyn,
Plaintiff overlooks the fact that as `a fire alarm operator,' he was but an employee, and not an officer of the municipality exercising public functions. Cf. Com. v. Black,
Plaintiff seeks to avoid the application of this settled rule by the language of § 10 of the above 1933 Act, 53 PS 8480(h) which provides that such employee "shall be reinstated with fullpay for the entire period during which he may have been prevented from performing his usual employment. . . . . ." (Italics added.)
"The general design and purpose of the law is to be kept in view" and the statute should be construed with reference to the object it seeks to attain. Kane v. *229 Policemen's Fund et al.,
To avoid the application of the holding in the Steiner case to the present appeal, appellant refers to the later case ofSchearer v. City of Reading,
Our conclusion is that the civil service act of 1933, supra, did not change the rule. The legislature did not intend to give a special preference to `fire alarm operators' over other like servants of the city. Statutory Construction Act, supra, § 62, 46 PS 562. Statutes are "to be construed in connection and in harmony with the existing law, and as a part of a general and uniform system of jurisprudence." 59 C.J., p. 1038; Com. v.Bacon, 8 S. R. 135.
Judgment affirmed. *231