Legal Question in Employment Law in Tennessee
Verbal Understanding of Settlement
I, as a Union Representative, was involved in settling a greivance in lieu of arbitration. Apon leaving the settlement meeting, all company and Union officials had a general understanding of the monetary settlement estimate. The Union and the Co. were close on their independant estimates. The signed agreement did not have the dollar amount, however that dollar amount was of importance to our decision to settle. Now the final tally is complete and the actual number is significantly less than what was estimated by both parties. Is our signed agreement binding,,or does the clear verbal understandings at the table carry some legal weight with regard to our recourse to either back out of the agreement or force the issue with regard to the disparity between the monetary settlement and the actual numbers. Are we stuck with this agreement, or do we have some way out based on our understanding when we left the settlement table? Thanks for your timely response.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Verbal Understanding of Settlement
The answer is that it probably depends on what exactly was said at the meeting and how the ultimate damage number was determined. It sounds like a formula for computing damages was agreed upon with the ultimate number still undecided. If that is the case and the formula was faithfully applied, there is likely no case for undoing the settlement agreement.
[Disclaimer: The above comments are not intended as nor should they be relied upon as "legal advice", which can only be obtained by personal consultation with a retained attorney; at which time the specific facts and circumstances of your case can be thoroughly evaluated. This reply is provided for general informational and educational purposes only, and does not create an attorney-client relationship with the responding attorney.]
Re: Verbal Understanding of Settlement
Within contract law, there is a doctrine known as "The Parole Evidence Rule." This rule has nothing to do with evidence of people on parole. Instead, it deals with reforming the written words on a contract based on oral agreements that were not written down into the wording of the signed contract. If you care about this matter, then you will take the time to learn about the Parole Evidence Rule from the Internet and ask yourself whether you have sufficient proof of the oral agreement to invoke that doctrine. If so, then it is certainly worth the chance for you to file suit and seek to reform or change the wording of the contract.
Mike Guth
http://riskmgmt.biz/prose.htm
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