Macy v. U.S.

• Decision Date: 05 July 1977
• Docket Number: No. 76-2421,76-2421
• Citation: 557 F.2d 391
• Parties: Carol A. MACY, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 391

557 F.2d 391

Carol A. MACY, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America.

No. 76-2421.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued June 9, 1977.

Decided July 5, 1977.

Saul Davis, Pittsburgh, Pa., for appellant.

John P. Panneton, Asst. U.S. Atty., Pittsburgh, Pa., Blair A. Griffith, U.S. Atty Before ALDISERT, ROSENN and HUNTER, Circuit Judges.

Judith K. Giltenboth, Asst. U.S. Atty., Pittsburgh, Pa., for appellee.

OPINION OF THE COURT

ALDISERT, Circuit Judge.

We are to decide if written communications between the Post Office Department and appellant constituted a release precluding appellant from bringing a claim for personal injuries under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq. The district court found a binding release to exist under 28 U.S.C. § 2672 and granted summary judgment for the government. We vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings.

Section 2672 provides in pertinent part:

The acceptance by the claimant of any such award, compromise, or settlement shall be final and conclusive on the claimant, and shall constitute a complete release of any claim against the United States and against the employee of the government whose act or omission gave rise to the claim, by reason of the same subject matter.

It is the government's contention that there was a meeting of the minds by the parties on "a compromise or settlement" and, in the statutory formulation, "(t)he acceptance by the claimant of any . . . compromise, or settlement (was) final and conclusive" on the part of Ms. Macy, the claimant.

Reduced to its essence, the controversy draws upon classic fundamentals of the law of contracts and requires a step-by-step analysis of the negotiations between the parties, set forth in documents presented to the district court in the summary judgment proceedings.

I.

On November 23, 1973, a mail truck struck Ms. Macy's car. On January 8, 1974, Ms. Macy submitted to the Pittsburgh Postmaster the standard form 95-105, labelled "Claim for Damage, Injury or Death". The form contains printed instructions, including:

If claimant intends to file claim for both personal injury and property damages, claim for both must be shown on line 10 of this form. Separate claims for personal injury and property damage are not acceptable.

On line 10A, labelled "Amount of Claim Property," plaintiff entered the sum of $565.40; line 10B, labelled "Amount of Claim Personal Injury," was left blank; line 10D, labelled "Amount of Claim Total," shows $565.40. Immediately above the place on the form providing for the claimant's signature, the printed form reads "I certify that the amount of claim covers only damages and injuries caused by the accident and agree to accept said amount in full satisfaction and final settlement of this claim." In completing the form, however, Ms. Macy altered these printed words by striking out the italicized portion and adding to the statement the phrase "if it covers the damages".

Although it is conceded that Form 95 as presented could be considered as an offer by Ms. Macy to settle a claim for $565.40, her offer was not accepted. Instead, on January 24, 1974, a postal inspector wrote to Ms. Macy acknowledging receipt of the $565.40 offer, rejecting it and stating:

If you agree that the $550.10 (a lower estimate for the auto damage) is a fair payment, it would be appreciated if you would forward to me a signed and dated letter advising that you will accept the lower amount. If you disagree, I would also like to be notified of your reason for the disagreement.

At oral argument, government counsel characterized the inspector's letter as the government's counter-offer, and not as an acceptance of the claim set forth in Form 95. Building on this theory, the government contends that its counter-offer to settle the claim was accepted by Ms. Macy in her written response of January 28, 1974:

In reply to your letter of January 24, 1974 I agree to accept payment from you in the amount of $550.10, to be used to repair my vehicle resulting from the collision on December 6, 1973, ¹ where I was struck by a Post Office vehicle.

At this juncture it would seem that the appropriate procedure for the government would have been to submit a new Form 95 insisting that Ms. Macy execute the document with its binding, printed language intact. The government did not do so.

Disregarding the use of its Form 95 entirely, ² the Postal Service then forwarded a check in the sum of $550.10 to Ms. Macy in a letter on January 31, 1974 stating, in pertinent part:

A settlement check in the amount of $550.10 is enclosed.

Acceptance of the above amount operates as a complete release of any claim against the United States and against the employee of the Government whose act or omission gave rise to the claim by reason of the same subject matter.

This payment represents the full amount of your claim.

Ms. Macy responded on February 12, 1974:

This is to acknowledge receipt of your postal service check in the amount of $550.10, which I am using for payment of repairs to my vehicle resulting from an accident with one of your postal trucks.

I wish to advise at this time that this amount does not cover my medical expenses resulting from injury from that accident. I am undergoing treatment now and will advise you as to the extent of my injuries and cost at a later date, when they are known to me.

She later cashed the check and subsequently pressed a new claim for personal injuries.

II.

Distilled to its essence, the government's argument comes to this: the exchange of correspondence of January 24-January 28 constituted the settlement agreement; the exchange of January 31-February 12 and the subsequent cashing of the check constituted the release. Clearly, the January 24-28 correspondence cannot be characterized as a settlement agreement. There simply was no meeting of the minds. What remains is the inquiry whether the subsequent correspondence and activity rose to the dignity of a binding contractual obligation on the part of Ms. Macy to release the government from all future claims.

We are not satisfied that the government's counter-offer of $550.10 of January 31, 1974 was accepted by Ms. Macy on February 12, 1974 as "a complete release of any claim". She specifically couched her response with express conditions not contained in the offer. It is hornbook law that a release is the relinquishment, concession or giving up of a right, claim or privilege, by the person in whom it exists or to whom it accrues, to the person against whom it might have been demanded or enforced. ³ Because an actual release is to be distinguished from a promise to release, McNutt v. Loney,153 Pa. 281, 25 A. 1088 (1893), a mere proposal to be followed by an agreement for release is not a release. Grota v. LaBoccetta, 425 Pa. 620, 230 A.2d 206 (1967); Hoffman v. Bloomsburg & S. R. Co., 157 Pa. 174, 27 A. 564 (1893). A release is contractual in nature, The Cayuga, 59 F. 483 (6th Cir. 1893); Rill v. Darling, 21 A.D.2d 955, 251 N.Y.S.2d 396 (1964); Bruns v. Light, 74 S.D. 418, 54 N.W.2d 99 (1952), and it has been held to be a contract or a species of a...