Phil Verret sued ABB Power T & D Company, Inc. (“ABB”) for allegedly breaching his severance pay contract. Verret appeals the trial court’s grant of ABB’s motion for summary judgment and the denial of his motion for the same.
[c]onfirming our conversation of 8/25/95, you [Verret] are being offered a separation package the terms of which are contained in the portions of this communication entitled, “Settlement Agreement Between Phil Verret and ABB Power T&D Company Inc. and Release of Age Discrimination Claims,” and entitled “Settlement Agreement Between [same parties] For Non-Age Employment Law Claims,” both Of which appear below. To accept this separation package, you must sign both of these agreements simultaneously.
It is undisputed that Verret signed both releases on August 29.
Both the Settlement Agreement and Release of Age Discrimination Claims and Settlement Agreement for Non-Age Employment Law Claims provide in pertinent part that ABB “agrees to pay Mr. Verret the sum of 31 additional weeks pay with medical and dental coverage beginning October 1, 1995 and ending May 3, 1996, in exchange for the release of claims described [above].”
Although the agreement afforded Verret only seven days to revoke or cancel, in a letter dated September 6,1995, Verret’s counsel wrote ABB as follows: “[w]ith this letter, Mr. Verret wishes to formally accept the two separation agreements offered to and signed by him on August 29,1995.”
In suing ABB, Verret contended that the settlement package was actually two distinct contracts each of which provided for a separate 31 weeks of severance pay for a total of 62 weeks of benefits. ABB countered that Verret was attempting to obtain double benefits since the document embodied only one agreement providing for a total of 31 weeks of post-employment benefits.
After examining the document at issue, the trial court found that the separation package constituted a single settlement agreement in which Verret unambiguously agreed to release his potential age discrimination and non-age discrimination employment claims in exchange for a total of 31 weeks of severance pay. Determining that there was only one binding unambiguous contract which was capable of only one reasonable interpretation, the court held that ABB was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Held:
1. Verret contends that the trial court erred by finding that the settlement agreement was not ambiguous in light of his understanding of the meaning of its terms.
The construction of a contract is a question of law for the trial court unless ambiguity remains after the court applies the rules of contract construction. OCGA § 13-2-1. Ambiguity means duplicity, indistinctness, or uncertainty of meaning or expression. Bumgarner v. Green,
Here, the terms of the settlement are not ambiguous. CassvilleWhite Assoc. v. Bartow Assoc.,
Notwithstanding Verret’s claim to the contrary, where the terms of a written contract are clear and unambiguous, the court cannot go beyond the contract itself and must confine itself to the contract alone to find the parties’ intent. Park ’N Go &c. v. U. S. Fidelity &c. Co.,
2. Verret asserts that the trial court erred by failing to find that the settlement agreement consisted of two separate contracts. We disagree.
Where contract terms are plain and unambiguous, as here, judicial construction which would alter the express terms is inappropriate. Lyle v. Southern Fed. Sav. &c.,
Finally, although we have found no merit to this appeal, we decline ABB’s request for sanctions under Court of Appeals Rules 15 (b) and 7. Compare Eakin v. Meighen,
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
The agreement provides: “I HAVE SEVEN (7) DAYS FOLLOWING MY SIGNATURE ON THIS SETTLEMENT AND RELEASE TO REVOKE OR CANCEL IT.”