William D. Cary v. Great Northern Railway Company

William Cary appeals from a judgment in favor of the defendant railroad following a jury trial on the validity of a release.

Cary, a railway clerk, complained of a back injury in 1965. After two years of on-and-off negotiation with the railroad’s claims agent, Cary settled his claim for $29,500. Thereafter, he commenced this Federal Employers’ Liability Act action for damages.

The railroad defended on the basis of settlement, and the court ordered a separate trial on the segregated issues concerning the execution of the written release which memorialized the settlement.

The principal question tried to the jury was whether the claims agent had promised Cary that if he signed the release he would receive a Railway Retirement Act pension as well as the cash settlement. This issue was vigorously disputed, and tended to dominate all other issues during the trial. On a special interrogatory submitted under Fed.R.Civ. P. 49(a), the jury found that the claims agent had made no such promise or representation. The district judge accordingly entered judgment for the railroad.

On appeal, Cary presents various assignments of error, but the only point deserving discussion is whether Cary’s…