Chuy v. Philadelphia Eagles Football Club

• Decision Date: 09 March 1979
• Docket Number: No. 77-1412,77-1412,No. 77-1411 and T,Nos. 77-1411,77-1411 and T,s. 77-1411
• Citation: 595 F.2d 1265
• Parties: 4 Media L. Rep. 2537 Don CHUY, Appellant inv. The PHILADELPHIA EAGLES FOOTBALL CLUB (sued as "The Philadelphia Eagles"), Appellant inhe National Football League.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 1265

595 F.2d 1265

4 Media L. Rep. 2537

Don CHUY, Appellant in No. 77-1412 v. The PHILADELPHIA EAGLES FOOTBALL CLUB (sued as "The Philadelphia Eagles"), Appellant in No. 77-1411 and The National Football League.

Nos. 77-1411, 77-1412.

United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

Argued Nov. 29, 1977.

Reargued En Banc Nov. 6, 1978.

Decided March 9, 1979.

Marvin Comisky, Morris L. Weisberg, Norman Perlberger, Blank, Rome, Klaus & Comisky, Philadelphia, Pa., for appellant in No. 77-1412.

Leonard Schaeffer, Michael Brodie, James D. Rosen, Pechner, Dorfman, Wolffe,

Rounick & Cabot, Philadelphia, Pa., for appellant in No. 77-1411

Argued Nov. 29, 1977.

Before GIBBONS and VAN DUSEN, Circuit Judges, and FISHER, District Judge. ^*

Reargued Nov. 6, 1978 In Banc.

Before SEITZ, Chief Judge, VAN DUSEN, ALDISERT, GIBBONS, ROSENN, HUNTER, WEIS, GARTH and HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judges. ^**

OPINION OF THE COURT

ROSENN, Circuit Judge.

This appeal presents several interesting questions growing out of the employment by the Philadelphia Eagles Football Club ("the Eagles") of a former professional player, Don Chuy ("Chuy"). The unexpected and unfortunate termination of Chuy's employment evoked charges by him that the Eagles had not played the game according to the rules when Chuy blew the whistle terminating his football career. Chuy ultimately reduced those charges to an antitrust and diversity action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

I. BACKGROUND

Chuy joined the Eagles in 1969, having been traded from the Los Angeles Rams, another professional football club with which he had played for a half dozen years. On June 16, 1969, he met with the Eagles general manager, Palmer "Pete" Retzlaff, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to negotiate a contract with the Eagles for the 1969, 1970, and 1971 football seasons. The parties concluded their negotiations by executing three National Football League (NFL) standard form player contracts on June 16, 1969, covering the 1969, 1970, and 1971 football seasons respectively at a salary of $30,000 for each season, with a $15,000 advance for the 1969 season.

The contracts each contained a standard NFL injury-benefit provision entitling a player injured in the performance of his service to his salary "for the term of his contract." Chuy sustained a serious injury to his shoulder during his first season in a game between the Eagles and the New York Giants in November, 1969. Sidelined for the remainder of the season, Chuy had to be hospitalized for most of December, 1969. During the hospitalization, his diagnosis revealed a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in his lung, which marked the end of his professional athletic career. Following the advice of his physician, Chuy decided to retire from professional football and notified the Eagles of his intention. At the same time, Chuy requested that the Eagles pay him for the remaining two years of what he asserted was a three-year contract.

The Eagles requested that Chuy submit to a physical examination which Dr. Dick D. Harrell conducted in March, 1970. After extensive tests, Dr. Harrell concluded that Chuy suffered from an abnormal cell condition, presumably stress polycythemia, which may have predisposed him to the formation of dangerous blood clots. He therefore recommended to the Eagles that Chuy should "not be allowed to participate further in contact sports." Shortly after receiving Dr. Harrell's recommendation, General Manager Retzlaff informed Hugh Brown, a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Bulletin, that Chuy had been advised to quit football because of his blood clot condition. Brown thereupon telephoned Dr. James Nixon, the Eagles' team physician, for further information on Chuy's medical status.

On April 9, 1970, Hugh Brown's by-lined column in the Philadelphia Bulletin carried an account of Chuy's premature retirement. The column opened with the following:

It's a jaw-breaker . . . Polycythemia Vera . . . and the question before the house is how Don Chuy, the Eagles' squatty guard, got hit with the jaw-breaker.

"One of the consequences of Polycythemia Vera," said Dr. James Nixon, the Eagles' physician, "is that the blood cells get in each other's way. It's a definite threat to form embolisms, or emboli."

The remainder of the column quoted Retzlaff, Dr. Nixon, and Chuy's attorney concerning Chuy's medical condition and his effort to obtain compensation for the additional two years of his putative three-year contract. The Associated Press wire service picked up the story and articles appeared the next day in newspapers throughout the country, including the Los Angeles Times. The articles reported that Chuy had been "advised to give up football and professional wrestling because of a blood condition" and that, according to Dr. James Nixon, the Eagles' physician, "Chuy is suffering from polycythemia vera. Nixon said it is considered a threat to form blood clots."

After reading the Los Angeles Times article, Chuy testified that he panicked and immediately called his personal physician, Dr. John W. Perry. Dr. Perry informed Chuy that polycythemia vera was a fatal disease but that, from his records, Chuy did not have that disease. Dr. Perry added that he would run a series of tests to confirm his diagnosis. Chuy testified that he became apprehensive, despite Dr. Perry's assurances, broke down emotionally, and, frightened by the prospect of imminent death, refused to submit to any tests. Chuy stated that for the next several months, he could not cope with daily routines and he avoided people. He returned to Dr. Perry, who gave him numerous tests which disproved the presence of polycythemia vera. Nonetheless, Chuy testified that he continued to be apprehensive about death and that marital difficulties also developed.

Chuy eventually brought suit against the Eagles and the National Football League, alleging antitrust violations, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. The district court dismissed the antitrust claim, 407 F.Supp. 717 (E.D.Pa.1976), and the dismissal has not been appealed. The court submitted the remaining claims to the jury by special interrogatories, and the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff. On the basis of the jury's findings, the district court molded a damages award for breach of contract in the amount of $45,000, which reflected $60,000 salary due for the 1970 and 1971 seasons, less a $15,000 debt Chuy owed the Eagles. The jury also awarded Chuy $10,000 compensatory damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim and punitive damages in the sum of $60,590.96. On the defamation claim, the jury found in its answer to the special interrogatories that Dr. Nixon's statements tended to injure Chuy's reputation, but that the columnist, Hugh Brown, did not understand that the publication of the doctor's statements would harm Chuy's reputation. The district court thereupon entered judgment against Chuy on his defamation claim.

After the entry of judgment against the Eagles in the aggregate sum of $115,590.96, both parties filed post-trial motions seeking either judgment notwithstanding the verdict (judgment n. o. v.) or a new trial. The Eagles addressed their motions to the contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims. Chuy's motion sought a new trial on the defamation claim. The district court denied all post-trial motions and both parties have appealed. We affirm. ¹

II. BREACH OF CONTRACT

The Eagles contend, as they did in the district court, that the three contracts Chuy signed with them on the same day were on their face three Separate, consecutive, one-year contracts. They assert that the contracts for the 1970 and 1971 seasons required that Chuy comply with paragraph 6, which provides for a complete physical examination of the player at the start of each training session during the term and the right of the "Club" to terminate the contract if the "Player" fails to establish his excellent physical condition to the satisfaction of the Club physician. The Eagles' position is that in the absence of a "no-cut" or "no-release" provision for the 1970 and 1971 seasons, Chuy was entitled only to the balance of his salary under the 1969 season contract. They argue that the district court should have given effect to this unambiguous construction of the contract without resort to parol evidence of the parties' intent and understanding. ²

Judge Becker, however, concluded that the three written contract forms signed by Chuy and the Eagles were reasonably susceptible to ambiguity in the meaning of the phrase "term of this contract" as used in paragraph 14 thereof and that when the contracts were read together, paragraph 14 was "highly ambiguous." He decided that the jury should resolve the ambiguity on the basis of pertinent parol evidence. The jury found that under the established practice in the NFL, a club is not relieved of liability for salary in subsequent seasons covered by a "multiple" contract by which a player signs documents on the same day generally relating to successive football seasons, if the player sustains an injury in one season and is unable to perform by reason of that injury in subsequent seasons. ³

We must first determine whether the district court erred as a matter of law in submitting to the jury the task of ascertaining the obligations of the parties under the three documents they executed on June 16, 1969. The cardinal rule of contract construction is that the intent of the parties at the time they contracted is controlling. Kennedy v. Erkman, 389 Pa. 651, 655, 133 A.2d 550, 552 (1957). Under Pennsylvania law, ⁴ the intent of the contracting parties is exclusively determined from the written instrument if its words are "clear and unambiguous." Id.; See East Crossroads Center, Inc. v. Mellon-Stuart Co., 416 Pa. 229, 205 A.2d 865 (1965); United Refining Co. v....