DeQuatro v. Zhen Yu Li
| Decision Date | 09 January 1995 |
| Citation | 211 A.D.2d 609,621 N.Y.S.2d 369 |
| Parties | Thomas DeQUATRO, Respondent, v. Zhen YU LI, Appellant, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Joseph Fallek, P.C., Brooklyn (Andrew M. Fallek, of counsel), for appellant.
Ready, Pontisakos, and Spiridakis, Garden City (Kenneth Ready, of counsel), for respondent.
Before O'BRIEN, J.P., and HART, GOLDSTEIN and FLORIO, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant Zhen Yu Li appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Price, J.), dated March 8, 1993, which, upon denying his motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as it is asserted against him, after a hearing, granted the plaintiff's cross motion to strike his affirmative defense asserting general release and accord and satisfaction.
ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the plaintiff's cross motion is denied, the affirmative defense is reinstated, the motion of the defendant Zhen Yu Li for summary judgment is granted, the complaint is dismissed insofar as it is asserted against the defendant Zhen Yu Li, and the action against the remaining defendants is severed.
Following a two-car collision in which the plaintiff's car was a total loss, the appellant Zhen Yu Li's insurer, American Colonial Insurance Company, acknowledged its insured's liability and offered the plaintiff $5500 to settle the matter. The plaintiff accepted the money and signed a general release in favor of the appellant. The plaintiff subsequently commenced this action to recover damages for personal injuries, claiming that the release covered property damage only. The appellant moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against him on the basis of the release. The court denied the motion and subsequently ruled, after a hearing, that because the language of the release was ambiguous as to whether bodily injury was within its scope, it did not bind the plaintiff on that issue.
We disagree. The release signed by the plaintiff contained broad all-inclusive language and was set out in clear and unmistakable terms. It provided that the plaintiff "releases and discharges * * * [the] releasee * * * from all actions, causes of action, suits, debts, dues, sums of money * * * controversies * * * trespasses, damages, judgments, extents, executions, claims, and demands whatsoever * * * which against the releasee, the releasor * * *...
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