HAND V. DAYTON-HUDSON
775 F.2d 757 (6th Cir. 1985)
NATURE OF THE CASE: Hand (P) appealed an order of the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Michigan, which granted summary judgment in favor of Dayton-Hudson
(D) in an action by P alleging breach of an employment contract and age discrimination.
FACTS: P is an attorney and had been employed by D from 1967 to 1982. In February of
1982, P lost his job with Dayton-Hudson allegedly as a result of a major restructuring by
Dayton-Hudson. D made an offer to pay him $38,000 if P agreed to release Dayton-Hudson of
any claims he might have against it. Prior to the signing, P had prepared another release
which provided that he was releasing all claims 'except as to claims of age discrimination
and breach of contract.' Except for the changes made by P to limit the terms of the release,
P's release was identical to the original prepared by Dayton-Hudson. The typewriter on which
it was written was of the same type and model; the number and structure of paragraphs were
identical; all other language and punctuation was identical; and the headings were also
identical. In addition, when P presented this release to Mr. Harms, a Dayton-Hudson
official, P attached the outline of termination benefits to this release in the same manner
that it had been attached to the original release. Despite the changes made, the documents
appeared superficially identical. P's release was signed and then P filed a complaint in
district court alleging age discrimination and breach of contract claims against
Dayton-Hudson. Dayton-Hudson answered that P had fraudulently procured its agent's signature
on the modified release and requested reformation of the release to conform to the original
offer made by Dayton-Hudson. Dayton-Hudson moved for summary judgment. After a hearing, the
court granted summary judgment on the issue of fraud, reformed the release, and held that
summary judgment was appropriate since P's claims were precluded by the reformed release. P
appealed.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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