Ellis v Wright and Others

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Court: High Court
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1976
• Docket Number: [1975 No. 1468 P.]
• Date: 01 January 1976

(H.C.)

Ellis

and

Wright and Others

Injunction - Workmen picketing farm owned by director of employer company - Trade Disputes Act, 1906 (6 Edw. 7, c. 47), ss. 2, 3, 5.

A trade dispute (within the meaning of s. 5 of the Trade Disputes Act, 1906) existed between the defendants and a company which was their employer. The company was engaged in the business of quarrying sand and gravel, and in the manufacture of concrete. The plaintiff was a director of the company and his father was its managing director; they held the majority of the shares of the company. The plaintiff owned a farm which was managed by his father. The business of the farm and that of the company were separate businesses, but the plaintiff used the services of the company for some purposes of his farm's business. The company's wages clerk calculated the wages of the farm employees and inserted the appropriate amounts of money in envelopes for delivery to them. When additional or urgent haulage facilities were required at the farm, the necessary lorries and drivers were supplied by the company; the company also supplied lorries and drivers for delivering the produce of the farm. A lorry, driven by an employee of the company, collected milk each day from the plaintiff's farm. Apart from the services of the company's...