97 Ga. 560 | Ga. | 1895
Tliis was an action against tbe railroad company by Burke, an employee, for damages resulting from personal injuries, in which, he obtained a verdict for $715.00, “less one hundred and sixty-five dollars already paid.” At the trial, the defendant introduced a writing signed by Burke, whereby he acknowledged the receipt of $165.00 in full settlement for the injuries inflicted upon him by the defendant. 'He sought to avoid the effect of this instrument by showing that he could neither read nor write, and that, in ignorance of the real contents of the paper, he signed it, supposing it to be a receipt for money paid him for “lost time.” It appears from the plaintiff’s own testimony, fairly construed in connection with the undisputed facts of the case, that at the time of this settlement the company
There is a very clear distinction between this case and that of Butler v. R. & D. R. R. Co., 88 Ga. 594. In the opinion therein delivered by Chief Justice Bleckley, the •doctrine which governs the present case, and which was recognized and applied in Hayes’ case, supra, is thus distinctly stated: “It is quite true that if the plaintiff had made any settlement or entered into any accord touching the injury complained of in his declaration, and now sought
In the present case there is not a word in the plaintiff’s, evidence indicating that he held against the company any claim for wages owing to him for services already rendered or by reason of any special contract as to his employment whereby the company obligated itself to pay him his wages whether he worked or not. On the contrary, it appears that the company had paid him, prior to the settlement, all it owed him as wages for work actually performed; and certainly, in the absence of an express contract to that effect, the company was not bound — independently of its. liability for inflicting personal injuries upon him — to pay him anything for “lost time.” Therefore, it cannot be seriously contended that the settlement had no reference to the plaintiff’s claim for personal injuries inflicted upon him, but was in regard to another and entirely distinct claim which Burke held against the company and which it, in any event, was bound to pay. Indeed, the verdict itself, as above shown, is conclusive against him on this very point.
We deem further comment unnecessary, for the reason tbat tbe opinion in the Butler case so plainly shows tbe distinction between that case and tbe class of cases to which tbe present case belongs, we could not hope to more clearly state tbe points of difference. Judgment reversed.