Leonidas Merritt

Title: Legal Complaint Against Rockefeller
Type: Document
Date: 1895
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: The Merritts filed this complaint against John D. Rockefeller and the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway.
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Activities:

1. According to Merritt in this complaint, what did Rockefeller or his company do while Merritt was working for him?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Merritt says that he did his job and still has not received the pay that was promised to him.
2. What in this complaint tells you that Merritt has tried out of court to get his wages?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: He says that he "made due demand" to the company and still was not paid.
3. What was Merritt's job at the railway?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: He was a vice president in the company and worked to get loans and money for the company so it could build the railway.
4. What did the company ask him to do while he was working for them with the promise that he would get repaid?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The company required him to use his own money for company expenses and promised him that he would be repaid for the money used. Not only is he claiming that he wasn't paid his salary, but he wasn't repaid money that was spent out of his own pocket at the request of the company.