Mahlon Pitney

“ There is nothing to interfere, even indirectly, with the liberty of the corporation in dealing with its employee, beyond giving him, instead of what formerly was called a 'reference' or 'character,' a brief statement of his service with the company according to the truth, a word of introduction, to be his credentials, where otherwise the opportunity of future employment easily might be barred or impeded. ”

“ As we are assured by the opinion of the Supreme Court, the mischiefs to which the statute is directed are peculiarly an outgrowth of existing practices of corporations, and are susceptible of a corrective in their case not so readily applied in the case of individual employers, presumably less systematic in their methods of employment and dismissal. There is no difficulty, therefore, in sustaining the Legislature in placing corporations in one class and individuals in another. ”

“ That freedom in the making of contracts of personal employment, by which labor and other services are exchanged for money or other forms of property, is an elementary part of the rights of personal liberty and private property, not to be struck down directly or arbitrarily interfered with, consistently with the due process of law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, we are not disposed to question. ”

“ As has been shown, the Missouri statute interposes no obstacle or interference as to either the making or the termination of contracts of employment, and prescribes neither terms nor conditions. The Supreme Court of the State, having ample knowledge of the conditions which gave rise to the particular legislation, declares with an authority not to be denied that it was required in order to protect the laboring man from conditions that had arisen out of customs respecting employment and discharge of employees introduced by the corporations themselves. ”

“ Such a training may almost inevitably produce effects upon the individuals in forming both character and reputation-effects that cannot be brought to an end at the will of the employee or of the corporation, or both of them combined, although the employment may be terminated at the will of either, but may continue while the employee lives. His employment with the corporation remains a part of what is called his 'record,' by which he must be judged whenever afterwards he may be in search of employment. ”

“ The railroad has the correlative right under like circumstances to discharge an employee for any cause or without cause. It is an unreasonable interference with this liberty of contract to require a statement by the employer of the motive for his action in desiring to discharge an employee, as this statute in substance does, and to require him also as a prerequisite to the exercise of his right, to enable the employee to make a statement in the presence of some one else-a thing which may be beyond the power of the employer. ”

“ The state with good reason might regulate the terms and conditions of employment, including the methods of accepting and dismissing employees, so as to prevent the corporations from producing undue detriment to the individuals concerned, either while employed or when afterwards they are called upon to seek other employment. In our opinion, no danger of 'blacklisting' is necessary to justify legislation requiring that corporations dismissing employees furnish them with a certificate stating the period of the service, its nature and character, and the cause, if any, that led to its termination. ”

“ The argument in support of the contention that the Service Letter Act is repugnant to the due process of law clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, in brief, is that at common law an employer is under no obligation to give a testimonial of character or clearance card to his employee; that no man is compelled to enter into business relations with another, unless he desires to do so, and upon the dissolution of such relations no man can be compelled to divulge to the public his reasons for such dissolution ”

“ It might be recognized that in the highly organized conditions of industry now prevailing-largely developed by the corporations themselves, and to which their success is greatly due-it is not to be expected that unemployed men can obtain responsible employment without some credentials proceeding from a former employer. The Legislature might believe it to be well understood that a period of employment by a corporation-notably so in the case of insurance companies-is a test of capacity, fidelity, and the other qualities that go to make efficiency ”

“ Except by consent of the state the corporation, foreign or domestic, would have no right to employ laborers within its borders. A foreign corporation does not, as intimated by the court below, waive any constitutional objection by coming in. ”

“ It was designed to protect the public interests as well as the wage-earner, against an injurious custom given birth to and fostered by said corporations. That a foreign corporation has no inherent right to exist or to do business in this state is no longer an open question. ”

“ The reasoning of the Supreme Court of Kansas in this case is not convincing. The case was cited in Coppage v. Kansas, 236 U.S. 1, 24, 35 Sup. Ct. 240, 59 L. Ed. 441, L. R. A. 1915C, 960, not, however, in approval of its views upon the question now presented, but in order to show that the court had recognized that under the law of the state an employer might discharge his employee for any reason or without reason, and could not be compelled to give a reason where one did not exist ”

“ Louis, to the effect that neither would, for a period of two years after his leaving the employ of either company, employ any man who for any reason had left the service of or had been discharged by either of the other companies, by which means plaintiff had been rendered unable to secure employment and had sustained substantial damages. ”

“ A general demurrer interposed to each count was sustained by the trial court, and, plaintiff declining to plead further, judgment was rendered for defendant, from which plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court of the state. That court, construing section 3020, held that it imposed a duty, not upon the superintendent or manager personally, but upon the corporation, acting through its superintendent or other proper officer, to issue the letter ”

“ It sustains the act as an exercise of the police power, but in truth it requires no extraordinary aid, being but a regulation of corporations calling for on application of the familiar precept, 'Sic utere tuo,' etc., in a matter of general public concern. ”