High Court Asked to Review Garnishment Procedures of Merchants and Finance Cos.

Press Release
May 27, 1968

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Press Releases, Volume 5. High Court Asked to Review Garnishment Procedures of Merchants and Finance Cos., 1968. 66ca06ae-b892-ee11-be37-6045bddb811f. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/e0118f42-93d8-4799-a06c-376b48c28994/high-court-asked-to-review-garnishment-procedures-of-merchants-and-finance-cos. Accessed December 04, 2025.

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112

ia }I
President

: Hon. Francis E. Rivers
PRESS RELEASE Diractar-Connsel

egal efense und Jesk Grespbers
NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. ee DeVere,
10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 festelleg NIGHT NUMBER 212-749-8487

FOR RELEASE
MONDAY
May 27, 1968

HIGH COURT ASKED TO REVIEW
GARNISHMENT PROCEDURES OF
MERCHANTS & FINANCE COS.

QUESTION PRESENTED: Can a worker's wages be garnisheed by a merchant

or finance company before the worker has been

given a hearing or trial?

NATIONAL
IMPLICATIONS: There are an estimated 4,000,000 garnishments a

year. This suit challenges the garnishment pro-

cedures in seventeen states.

WASHINGTON, D.C.---The U.S. Supreme Court was asked today by attorneys

of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) to consi-

der for the first time the legality of wage garnishment.

The case was filed on behalf of a 23-year-old Milwaukee, Wisc.

woman, Christine Sniadach, who earns $65.00 weekly. Mrs. Sniadach is

white.

The company for which she worked withheld $31.59 and continues

to do so.

An action for $420.00 had been commenced against her by the

Family Finance Corporation of Bay View, Wisc., but long before any

hearing or trial, the finance company forced her employer to with-

hold half of her wages.

The Miller Harris Instrument Company, her employer, proceeded

under a Wisconsin law which provides Mrs. Sniadach with "no right to

notice and hearing or other procedure for challenging the legality of

the garnishment," according to the LDF brief.

An estimated four million persons have their salaries garnisheed

annually, the lawyers say.

They add that “between 100,000 and 300,000 American workers are

fired from their jobs each year as a result of wage garnishment."

If successful, the suit would affect garnishment procedures in

17 states. These states are: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California,

Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon,

Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Mrs. Sniadach, who now resides with her parents, is divorced.

The finance company claims that she owes it money for a purchase made

by her former husband.

=30=

NOTE: The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is a

separate and distinct organization from the NAACP. Its correct

designation is NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., which

is shortened to LDF.

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High Court Asked to Review Garnishment Procedures of Merchants and Finance Cos.

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