Jeffrey J. Tiburzi v. Department of Justice

269 F.3d 1346, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 23635, 2001 WL 1338804

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Decided: November 1, 2001
• Docket: 01-3123
• Status: Published

Opinions

DYK, Circuit Judge.

This case presents the question whether the parties intended an oral settlement agreement to be binding in the absence of a subsequent written settlement agreement. We hold that substantial evidence supports the conclusion that the parties intended’to be bound by the oral agreement, without regard to any subsequent memorialization of its terms. We further hold that petitioner has made no showing that his counsel or the administrative judge coerced his acceptance of the agreement. We accordingly affirm the decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (“MSPB” or “Board”) in Tiburzi v. Department of Justice, No. PH-0752-00-0295-I-1, 87 M.S.P.R. 534 (M.S.P.B. Nov.13, 2000).

BACKGROUND

Mr. Jeffrey J. Tiburzi (“petitioner”) was employed as a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency of the Department of Justice (“DEA” or “agency”). On the evening of June 28, 1999, petitioner consumed alcoholic beverages at his Baltimore home, and then continued to drink at a nearby bar, where several witnesses saw him shove another bar patron. Though petitioner was apparently unarmed at the time, the altercation led DEA Special Agent Anthony Oliver (who had accompanied petitioner to the bar) to draw his service weapon and point it at the bar patron and a bar employee. The bar employee in turn contacted the Baltimore Police Department, and police officers subsequently detained and questioned both petitioner and Special Agent Oliver. The report filed by the Baltimore police officers indicated that petitioner’s speech was slurred and that he was staggering, and described his behavior as “cocky” and “combative.”

On December 23, 1999, the agency sent petitioner a Notice of Proposed Removal from his position, based on three charges brought against petitioner arising from his conduct on the evening of June 28, 1999.¹ The agency based the first charge, “Conduct Unbecoming a DEA Special Agent,” on petitioner’s involvement in what the agency characterized as a “bar brawl,” and his “unprofessional demeanor with the Baltimore Police Officers” investigating the altercation. The agency based the second charge, “Poor Judgment,” on petitioner’s consumption of alcohol to the extent that petitioner would be “unfit to return to duty, if necessary.” Petitioner’s conduct in this regard contravened agency policy on “Standards of Conduct Relating to Consumption of Alcohol.” The agency based the third charge, “Making False Statements,” on petitioner’s allegedly false statements on October 4, 1999, to inspectors with the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility regarding his conduct at the Baltimore bar.

On December 28, 1999, the agency placed petitioner on administrative leave pending adjudication of the charges. In an April 25, 2000, letter to petitioner, the agency sustained all charges, and removed petitioner, effective “upon [petitioner’s] receipt of this letter.” Petitioner acknowledged receipt of the removal letter on May 1, 2000.

On May 24, 2000, petitioner (through counsel) appealed his removal to the Board, which referred the case to an administrative judge for adjudication. On July 20, 2000, the administrative judge held an evidentiary hearing on petitioner’s appeal, during which time the parties also apparently entered into settlement negotiations.

On July 21, 2000, the administrative judge stated on the record that “the parties have entered into a settlement agreement” and invited the parties to “go through [on the record] the specific terms of the settlement agreement that the parties have agreed to.” Petitioner’s counsel, the self-described “scrivener” of the agreement, proceeded to read the terms of the agreement into the record. Under the agreement, petitioner agreed: to “resign from his position as a criminal investigator with DEA effective today [July 21, 2000];” to “not return to DEA or make any further [employment] applications to DEA;” and to “[w]ithdraw[ ] his appeal and waive[ ] basically any and all claims against the agency that could arise out of this matter.” The . agency, in turn, agreed to provide a neptral reference on petitioner to potential future (non-law enforcement) employers and to state that he resigned from the agency “for personal reasons.”

The hearing transcript indicates that all parties, including petitioner and his counsel, answered affirmatively the administrative judge’s question whether the terms entered into the record “constitute all the terms of the settlement agreement.” All parties likewise answered affirmatively the administrative judge’s questions whether they each “understand the terms of the settlement agreement,” and whether they “voluntarily enter into the settlement agreement.”

The transcript also reflects that the parties considered the date of the hearing— July 21, 2000 — to be the “date of the execution of this [settlement] agreement.” Petitioner’s counsel stated in pertinent part, for example, that:

The terms [of the settlement agreement] are generally as follows. Mr. Tiburzi will resign from his position as a criminal investigator with the DEA effective today, which is the date of the execution of the agreement, although we do contemplate that there will be a signed agreement.

(Emphasis added.) The parties also agreed that “this oral representation of what the settlement agreement is and the written settlement agreement will become part of the record here and enforced, and enforceable by [the administrative judge].” The administrative judge, in turn, instructed that “a copy of the written settlement agreement will be. faxed to my office” on or about July 26, 2000.

On July 27, 2000, the agency forwarded to petitioner’s counsel a proposed written settlement agreement for his and petitioner’s signature. That agreement memorialized the terms of the oral settlement agreement. The proposed written agreement, however, specified a resignation date of May 1, 2000 (the resignation date set forth in petitioner’s SF-50 “Notification of Personnel Action” form), as opposed to the July 21, 2000, resignation date agreed upon by the parties at the Board hearing.

Apparently neither petitioner nor his counsel responded to the agency’s July 27, 2000, correspondence. On August 3, 2000, the agency again requested a signed copy of the agreement, and informed petitioner’s counsel that the administrative judge was “seeking a signed copy [of the written agreement] for the Board’s records as soon as possible.” Although the agency and petitioner’s counsel conferred tele-phonieally on or about August 10, 2000, regarding a minor revision to the settlement agreement, neither petitioner nor his counsel appears to have signed the written agreement.

On August 23, 2000, the administrative judge dismissed petitioner’s appeal as settled, on the grounds that the parties “lawfully] and voluntarily entered into” the oral settlement agreement, and that they “understand the terms” of that agreement:

On July 21, 2000, the scheduled day of the hearing, the parties entered into an oral settlement agreement which has been placed into the record.... I have reviewed the terms of the settlement agreement and find it lawful and voluntarily entered into. The record reveals that the parties understand the terms of the settlement agreement and that they desire to make the settlement agreement enforceable by the Board.... Since the appeal has been settled before the Board has reached a decision on the matter, the appeal is dismissed from further consideration before this office.

Tiburzi v. Dep’t of Justice, Docket No. PH-0752-00-0295-I-1, 87 M.S.P.R. 534 (M.S.P.B. Aug.23, 2000) (“Initial Decision”).

Notwithstanding the dismissal of his appeal, petitioner continued to refuse to sign the written agreement, and on or about September 20, 2000, petitioner’s counsel informed the administrative judge that he no longer represented petitioner. Shortly thereafter, the agency advised the administrative judge that the withdrawal of petitioner’s counsel did not “impact ... upon the effectiveness of the parties’ settlement agreement,” and that the agency “would immediately begin to fulfill [its] obligations in accordance with the agreement’s terms.”

On or about September 27, 2000, the petitioner filed a pro se petition for review of the administrative judge’s Initial Decision. In that petition, Mr. Tiburzi requested that the settlement agreement be vacated and a new hearing granted, upon the grounds that he entered into the agreement under “duress and extreme coercion” by his counsel and by the administrative judge.

During the pendency of Mr. Tiburzi’s petition for review, the agency (on or about October 20, 2000), revised petitioner’s Notice of Termination form (SF-50), to delete any references to the charges brought against petitioner, and to state that he had resigned his position for personal reasons. The revised SF-50, however, provided a resignation date of May 1, 2000, rather than the July 21, 2000, resignation date set forth in the oral settlement agreement.

On November 13, 2000, the full Board denied the petition for review, concluding that “there is no new, previously unavailable, evidence and that the administrative judge made no error in law or regulation that affects the outcome” of Mr. Tiburzi’s Board appeal. Tiburzi v. Dep’t of Justice, No. PH-0752-00-0295-1-1, 87 M.S.P.R. 534 (M.S.P.B. Nov.13, 2000) (“Final Decision”). This timely pro se appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

I

This court will affirm a decision of the Board unless we find it to be: “(1) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; (2) obtained without procedures required by law, rule, or regulation having been followed; or (3) unsupported by substantial evidence.... ” 5 U.S.C. § 7703(c); Chase-Baker v. Dep’t of Justice, 198 F.3d 843, 845 (Fed.Cir.1999). The petitioner bears the burden of establishing error in the Board’s decision. See, e.g., Cheeseman v. Office of Pers. Mgmt, 791 F.2d 138, 140 (Fed.Cir.1986).

II

It is “axiomatic that a settlement agreement is a contract.” Greco v. Dep’t of the Army, 852 F.2d 558, 560 (Fed.Cir.1988). And as we have previously recognized, “it is well-established that an oral settlement agreement is binding on the parties, particularly when the terms are memorialized into the record.” Sargent v. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 229 F.3d 1088, 1090 (Fed.Cir.2000); see also Goodwin v. Dep’t of Treasury, 983 F.2d 226, 228 (Fed.Cir.1992) (noting that an oral Board agreement “was valid and binding on the parties”).

Mr. Tiburzi twice concedes in his informal brief that he “did enter into a settlement agreement with the [agency] as before [the administrative judge] in which I resigned my position as a Special Agent,” and that he “did so on the court record.” ² But petitioner argues that the oral agreement should be set aside because he did not “sign or accept the official written agreement.” In other words, Mr. Tiburzi argues that his acceptance of the oral agreement is not binding absent the parties’ subsequent approval of a written me-morialization of that agreement.

Parties often enter into oral contracts with the understanding that a written contract will follow that merely memorializes the oral contract. It is well-settled under our cases that if no written agreement is forthcoming, the oral agreement still governs. In Singer Co., Librascope Div. v. United States, 215 Ct.Cl. 281, 568 F.2d 695 (1977), for example, one of our predecessor courts, the Court of Claims,³ affirmed the trial court’s determination that the government contractor was bound by its oral agreement with the government even though the contractor had “never submitted ... the signed letter of acceptance that had been requested” by the government. Id. at 707. In reaching that conclusion, the trial court reasoned in pertinent part that the contractor had not shown that the parties intended to “postpone a binding contractual commitment” until the execution of a “later written memorial of their agreement”:

Plaintiff points to nothing in the record to warrant the conclusion that either party intended to postpone a binding contractual commitment until evidence of their understanding had been formalized by way of a signed letter of acceptance. The Government’s letter ... asked [the contractor] to signify its acceptance and exceptions by telegram, this then to be followed by a signed letter of acceptance. In its tele-grammed response, [the contractor] noted its concurrence. These manifestations of assent were sufficient in themselves to conclude an agreement and contract law would not inhibit such effect merely because the parties may also have manifested an intention to prepare and adopt a later written memorial of their agreement.

Id. at 707 (emphasis added).

In contrast, in Mahboob v. Department of the Navy, 928 F.2d 1126 (Fed.Cir.1991), on the particular facts of that case (discussed below), we concluded that the parties had not intended an oral settlement agreement (negotiated telephonically) to be binding until it was reduced to writing. Thus, we held that the oral agreement there was not a “final settlement of plaintiffs” claims that the agency had improperly removed her from her position. Id. at 1129.

In short, our cases make clear that where the parties intend to enter into an oral agreement, it is binding on the parties even if its terms are not embodied in a subsequent written instrument. Decisions of a number of our sister courts of appeals are in accord. See Chedd-Angier Prod. Co. v. Omni Publ’ns Int’l, Ltd., 756 F.2d 930, 935 (1st Cir.1985) (affirming jury verdict that the parties “agreed upon the essential terms of the [oral] contract prior to memorializing the contract in writing”); Int’l Telemeter Corp. v. Teleprompter Corp., 592 F.2d 49, 56 (2d Cir.1979) (affirming district court’s decision that the parties entered into a binding oral settlement agreement “prior to signing and delivery of a written agreement”).

Secondary sources provide further support for the proposition that an oral agreement between parties is binding even if the parties contemplate the execution of a later written agreement and no subsequent written instrument is in fact executed. Professor Williston states, for example, that:

[W]here it was understood that the contract should be formally drawn up, and put in writing, the transaction is nevertheless complete and binding, absent a positive agreement that it should not be binding until so reduced to writing and formally executed. This is the position adopted by both Restatements [of Contracts], the drafters recognizing that, though the parties may intend to memorialize their agreement, the memorial is not necessary in the absence of a statute requiring it.

1 Samuel Williston, Williston on Contracts § 4:8, at 300-302 (4th ed.1990) (emphasis added).

Similarly, the Restatement (Second) of Contracts (1981) makes clear that:

Manifestations of assent that are in themselves sufficient to conclude a contract will not be prevented from so operating by the fact that the parties also manifest an intention to prepare and adopt a written memorial thereof; but the circumstances may show that the agreements are preliminary negotiations.

Id. at § 27.⁴

Under existing law, an oral agreement is binding absent a showing that the parties “did not intend to be bound until a written contract was signed.” Sargent, 229 F.3d at 1090. There is no such showing here, as petitioner himself appears to concede. Moreover, the hearing transcript shows that the parties intended to achieve a settlement agreement on the date of the hearing. Counsel for petitioner, for example, informed the administrative judge that petitioner would resign “effective today, which is the date of the execution of the agreement, although we do contemplate that there will be a signed agreement” (emphasis added). The balance of the hearing transcript also shows that the parties and the administrative judge understood that a complete, binding agreement had been reached. Indeed, the administrative judge asked the parties four times whether the terms entered into the record “constitute all the terms of the settlement agreement,” and all parties (including Mr. Tiburzi) answered in the affirmative. Finally, all parties agreed that both the oral agreement and any subsequent written memorialization would be enforceable by the Board. Counsel for petitioner, for example, informed the administrative judge in pertinent part that the “oral representation of what the settlement agreement is and the written settlement agreement will become part of the record here and enforced, and enforceable by Your Honor.”

The dissent suggests that the settlement agreement was invalid because the DEA attorney lacked authority to enter into the agreement. But there was no allegation below that the DEA attorney lacked that authority, and no evidence that she did. The DEA attorney’s statement that she voluntarily entered into the settlement agreement “to the extent [she] count[s] as agency counsel” suggests only that she was not personally bound by the settlement agreement, and not, as the dissent submits, that she lacked authority to enter into the agreement on the agency’s behalf. Likewise, the DEA attorney’s promise to return to petitioner a signed copy of the agreement once she “obtained an original signature on behalf of the Agency” does not suggest a lack of authority to enter into an oral settlement agreement, particularly when she repeatedly represented to the administrative judge that “the parties have entered into a settlement agreement.” To construe statements such as those relied on by the dissent as indicating a lack of authority would call into question a wide range of valid settlements, to the detriment of both the United States and agency employees.

In sum, substantial evidence shows that the parties intended the oral settlement agreement to be binding and enforceable even absent the execution of a subsequent written agreement.

This situation is quite different from the facts of Mahboob v. Department of the Navy, 928 F.2d 1126 (Fed.Cir.1991), where we concluded that the parties there had not intended an oral settlement agreement (negotiated telephonically) to be binding until it was reduced to writing. At the outset, we recognize that the written agreements in Mahboob and this case could arguably be distinguished based upon the language of their respective integration clauses. The written contract at issue in Mahboob contained an integration clause that stated in pertinent part that “[t]here are no other agreements between the parties, either express or implied, oral or written.” Id. at 1129. The written agreement here does not explicitly refer to “other [oral] agreements between the parties.” ⁵ Id. But this arguable distinction is irrelevant. All well-drafted contracts contain integration clauses. And the term “integration clause” is in turn defined as “[a] contractual provision stating that the contract represents the parties’ complete and final agreement and supersedes all informal understandings and oral agreements relating to the subject matter of the contract.” Black’s Law Dictionary 812 (7th ed.1999) (emphasis added). Thus, an integration clause by definition disposes of prior “oral agreements,” and the stylistic differences in the integration clauses here are not grounds upon which to distinguish Mahboob from this case. There are, however, material differences between this case and Mahboob.

Here, unlike Mahboob, the record itself reflects petitioner’s explicit acceptance of the oral agreement. Also, the written settlement agreement at issue in Mahboob, drafted by the Navy and sent to petitioner, was “almost completely different from the terms discussed in the telephone conference,” in that it contained “various new terms of settlement that were not even mentioned in the telephone conference.” Mahboob, 928 F.2d at 1129.

The written agreement in this case, in contrast, was by no means “almost completely different” from the oral agreement reached at the Board hearing. Id. Rather, the parties at the hearing specifically agreed to the material provisions of the agreement.

We do note that the written agreement drafted by the agency contains one arguably material change from the oral agreement, in that the written agreement (and revised SF-50) specifies an earlier resignation date for Mr. Tiburzi (May 1, 2000) than did the oral agreement (July 21, 2000). But the agency’s mere proposal of a different resignation date in its July 27, 2000, draft of the written agreement does not require the invalidation of the entire oral settlement agreement. Rather, the July 21, 2000, resignation date set forth in the oral agreement continues to govern. See 1 Arthur L. Corbin, Corbin on Contracts § 30, at 110 (1963) (“Afterthoughts cannot be brought into the contract except by mutual assent; and the informal contract stands as made.”).

Ill

Mr. Tiburzi next argues that the oral agreement should be set aside because his counsel and the administrative judge “coerced and intimidated me into the agreement.” We cannot agree, as petitioner does not provide, and the record does not otherwise disclose, evidence to support his allegations of coercion.

As we have previously noted, “[t]hose who employ the judicial appellate process to attack a settlement through which controversy has been sent to rest bear a properly heavy burden” of proof that the agreement was improperly obtained. Asberry v. United States Postal Serv., 692 F.2d 1378, 1380 (Fed.Cir.1982); see also Sargent, 229 F.3d at 1091 (“It is well-established that in order to set aside a settlement, an appellant must show that the agreement ... was involuntary....”).

A bare allegation of coercion is not sufficient to set aside the parties’ settlement agreement. Rather, Mr. Tiburzi must make a “showing of wrongful conduct necessary to shift the burden of proof on the allegation” of the attorney’s and administrative judge’s coercion from himself to the agency. Asberry, 692 F.2d at 1381. Petitioner has made no such showing of “wrongful conduct” here. He provides only unsubstantiated allegations that his counsel and the administrative judge made certain statements to him off the record during the hearing to coerce his acceptance of the oral agreement. Those alleged statements appear to include appraisals by petitioner’s counsel and the administrative judge of the merits of petitioner’s appeal.

Even if those statements were made, they would not be sufficient to invalidate the oral agreement. Mr. Tiburzi had to choose at the hearing between unpleasant alternatives: resigning from the agency under the terms of the oral agreement, or facing the (likely) rejection of his Board appeal and the resulting removal for cause from his position by the agency. We have repeatedly recognized that “an employee’s dissatisfaction with the options that an agency has made available to him is not sufficient to render his decision to resign or retire involuntary.” Carpenter v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 111 F.3d 118, 121 (Fed.Cir.1997); see also, e.g., Schultz v. United States Navy, 810 F.2d 1133, 1136 (Fed.Cir.1987) (“[W]here an employee is faced merely with the unpleasant alternatives of resigning or being subject to removal for cause, such limited choices do not make the resulting resignation an involuntary act.”). That principle is applicable here.

In short, the evidence leads us to conclude that petitioner has not presented substantial evidence that his counsel or the administrative judge coerced petitioner’s acceptance of the oral settlement agreement.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that substantial evidence supports the conclusion that the parties intended to make the July 21, 2000, oral agreement binding and enforceable. We further conclude that the petitioner has not shown that his counsel or the administrative judge coerced his acceptance of the oral agreement. We therefore affirm the decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

AFFIRMED

COSTS

No costs.

1 . It appears from the record that the agency also took disciplinary action against Special Agent Oliver. That action by the agency is not at issue here.

2 . Elsewhere in his informal brief, petitioner concedes that "I realize that I did agree to the settlement on the record before the [administrative] judge and that I must take responsibility for those actions.”

3 . We are bound by the decisions of the Court of Claims "announced before the close of business on September 30, 1982.” South Corp. v. United States, 690 F.2d 1368, 1370 (Fed.Cir.1982) (enbanc).

4 . See also, e.g., 1 Arthur L. Corbin, Corbin on Contracts § 30, at 110 (1963) (“The evidence may be convincing that the parties intend to reduce their already consummated [oral] contract to writing as a mere 'memorial thereof and not as their only operative expression of assent. In such a case, the contract is valid even though they try and fail to agree upon the form and terms of the memorial.’’) (emphasis added).

5 . The integration clause in the written agreement at issue here states in pertinent part that "[t]his [written] [a]greement represents the full and complete agreement of the parties hereto. No other promises or agreements will be binding unless placed in writing and signed by both parties.”