Texas & Pacific Ry. Co. v. Dashiell, 198 U.S. 521 (1905)

Texas and Pacific Railway Company v. Dashiell

No. 212

Argued April 11, 1905
Decided May 29, 1905
198 U.S. 521

ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

Syllabus

An employee of a railroad company executed a release which, after reciting that he had been injured in an accident, and that it was desirable to maintain pleasant relations, and avoid all controversy in the matter, and specifying certain slight bodily injuries including a scalp wound, released the company for a consideration of thirty dollars from all "claims and demands of every kind whatsoever for or on account of the injuries sustained in the manner and on the occasion aforesaid;" subsequently, after having remained in the company’s employ about three months, he sued and obtained a verdict for permanent bodily and mental injuries, resulting from injuries not enumerated in the release, including a fracture of the skull; there was testimony going to show that the fracture was not known when the release was executed and that the permanent disability resulted from nonenumerated injuries. The trial court charged that the release related only to damages sustained by the enumerated injuries and not to those sustained from the nonenumerated injuries. Held, not error, and that

General words in a release are to be limited and restrained to the particular words in the recital, and the release in this case, not being for all injuries, but only for the particular ones specified, was not a bar to a recovery for damages resulting from the nonenumerated injuries, and that the application of this rule is not affected by the words "avoid all controversy in regard to the matter," as those words did not relate to the accident, but to the specified injuries.

The facts are stated in the opinion.