Wolf v. St. Louis Public Service Company

357 S.W.2d 950, 1962 Mo. App. LEXIS 699
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 12, 1962
Docket30907
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 357 S.W.2d 950 (Wolf v. St. Louis Public Service Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wolf v. St. Louis Public Service Company, 357 S.W.2d 950, 1962 Mo. App. LEXIS 699 (Mo. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

ELGIN T. FULLER, Special Judge.

The defendant appeals from a verdict and judgment in favor of the plaintiff for $2,500. Kenneth Wolf brought his cause of action against the St. Louis Public Service Company for personal injuries, loss of wages, medical expenses and doctor bills allegedly sustained in and arising from an accident which occurred Saturday evening, March 20, 1954, when defendant’s streetcar collided with the rear end of plaintiff’s automobile. Plaintiff was operating his automobile southwardly on Grand Avenue in the City of St. Louis, and was stopped by reason of traffic at or near the intersection of Grand Avenue with Crittenden Street. Traffic ahead of plaintiff was also stopped in obedience to the traffic light at Arsenal Street which was one block south of Crittenden. Plaintiff’s vehicle was located five or six feet behind the car in front. That car was waiting to make a left turn into Crittenden. The plaintiff saw the streetcar approaching from the rear about ten or twelve feet behind plaintiff’s automobile. He put his foot on the brake to brake himself and to prevent his car being thrown forward into the car ahead. The streetcar struck and damaged the rear bumper guard but did not damage the bumper itself. The trunk lid was hit about where the latch is on the center of the trunk door. Plaintiff’s automobile was thrown forward, but did not strike the automobile in front of plaintiff’s automobile because that car had moved forward in making its left turn. Plaintiff was not thrown against any part of his car, but he testified that the impact “jarred me sort of and snapped my neck — just like a whip — forward and back.’’ After getting out of his automobile plaintiff walked to the intersection of Grand and Arsenal and talked with a policeman. He then went back to the streetcar, boarded the streetcar and *952 talked to the streetcar operator. He then drove his car to St. Anthony’s Hospital to visit his brother where plaintiff planned to go when he left his home that evening. While at the hospital he sought no medical attention for himself. After the visit with his brother plaintiff went home, and after arriving home he began to get a severe headache and a pain in his neck. He called his family doctor, Dr. Dihl, a chiropractor, who came to plaintiff’s home Saturday night. Plaintiff went to Dr. Dihl’s office the following Monday, March 22.

Sometime between Saturday evening and Monday plaintiff called the Public Service Company and reported the accident and at that time someone from defendant company gave plaintiff the names of three or four garages and asked if plaintiff wanted to take his car to one of those garages to have his automobile repaired. One, the General Body and Motor Service, was near plaintiff’s place of employment, so he took his car there Monday, March 22. The next day, Tuesday, March 23, he went for his car which had been repaired. The man in charge of the garage asked the plaintiff to sign a release and endorse a check in the amount of $39.07 which the garageman had. Plaintiff told the garageman that he didn’t want to sign the release because he still had to see the doctor. Plaintiff testified that the garageman then called the Public Service Company and talked to a gentleman there and then handed the telephone to the plaintiff ; that the man identified himself as being with the Public Service Company. Plaintiff then testified, “He told me to go ahead and sign and clear their records and release my car; and the doctor bills would be taken up at a later date.” That was all of the conversation. Plaintiff then signed the release and endorsed the check for $39.07 and got his car. The repair bill amounted to $31.07. The balance of eight dollars was given to the plaintiff for the two occasions plaintiff had seen the doctor. This was March 23, 1954. Three years and two months later (May 27, 1957) plaintiff filed suit for injuries and damages allegedly received in this accident. The trial proceeded on plaintiff’s second amended petition which was filed September 8, 1959.

The defendant’s answer pleads the written release as a bar to plaintiff’s action.. On May 18, I960, plaintiff filed his reply admitting that plaintiff signed the release and endorsed the check, but to avoid the effect of the release, plaintiff alleged that such release did not constitute a release of anything other than property damage, and alleged that the conduct of the defendant and its agent constituted “undue duress” and fraud, or, as stated by plaintiff, “constituted a material misrepresentation upon which plaintiff relied, and which thereby voided any alleged agreement, contract or release.”

The duress, misrepresentation and fraud' relied upon will be discussed in the further-course of this opinion. The trial court denied defendant’s motion for a directed verdict, and by instructions which hypothesized the facts as developed by the evidence, submitted the question of the validity of the-release to the jury. Following the verdict in favor of the plaintiff, defendant filed its. motion for judgment in accordance with its-motion for a directed verdict, grounded in part upon the plea that the execution of the release barred plaintiff from maintaining-the cause of action. This motion was likewise overruled and an appeal was timely-perfected.

The principal question is the legal effect of the release signed by the plaintiff, which by its terms fully released the defendant “of and from all claims or demands of every kind or nature whatsoever on account of' injuries to person or damage to property arising from accident which occurred on or about March 20, 1954, at or near Grand and Crittenden. The undersigned further declares that he./she has executed this release of his/her own free will and had not relied upon any representations on behalf of St. Louis Public Service Company concerning-the nature or extent of his/her injuries, and/or damage.”

*953 If the release was not procured by duress, misrepresentation or fraud, then it was binding upon the plaintiff, and was a bar to plaintiff’s cause of action.

The plaintiff’s reply raised the question of duress, misrepresentation and fraud with these allegations and these alone:

“ * * * but plaintiff denies that said signing of said document and endorsing of said draft constitutes a release of anything other than the property damage claim * * * and that in fact plaintiff did not agree to accept payment thereunder as settlement in full of the claims described in plaintiff’s petition * * * that upon request for his automobile he was informed by said garage attendant or owner that it would be necessary for him to sign the document previously referred to by defendant as Exhibit ‘A’ in their Amended Answer and further necessary that he endorse the draft previously referred to as Exhibit <B> * * * that said action on the part of defendant or its agent or both constituted undue duress on the plaintiff, thereby voiding any alleged agreement, contract or release * * *.”

And after pleading the fact of the telephone conversation with a gentleman at the Public Service Company, plaintiff then alleged:

“ * * * whereupon he did so converse and was told by defendant’s agent that he should sign the release so that the garageman could close his records and release the car and that the doctor bills would be taken up at a later date.

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Bluebook (online)
357 S.W.2d 950, 1962 Mo. App. LEXIS 699, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wolf-v-st-louis-public-service-company-moctapp-1962.