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Barker v. Roelke3/20/2003
ixon v. Mr. Property Management Company, Inc., 690 S.W.2d 546 (Tex.1985). All evidence favorable to the non-movant must be taken as true, and all reasonable doubts must be resolved in favor of the non- movant. Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Company, Inc., supra. In order for a defendant to be entitled to summary judgment, it must either disprove an element of each cause of action or establish an affirmative defense as a matter of law. American Tobacco Company, Inc. v. Grinnell, 951 S.W.2d 420, 425 (Tex.1997); Science Spectrum, Inc. v. Martinez, 941 S.W.2d 910, 911 (Tex.1997).
Appellant asserts in Sub-issue No.1a that the summary judgment evidence raised a fact issue with respect to appellees' affirmative defense of release. He contends that the two written releases which he executed are only part of a " lobal ettlement" which he entered with Jackie Jay, Ronald Jay, the Roelkes, and the Roelkes' insurer. Appellant asserts that Jackie Jay agreed to release all of her potential claims arising from the accident as part of the global settlement. He further asserts that the releases are unenforceable against him if Jackie Jay's claims were not released at the same time. Appellant relies on the contractual elements of mutual assent and party capacity in advancing this argument. With respect to his mutual assent allegation, appellant argues that the releases do not reflect a "meeting of the minds" because they do not include provisions addressing Jackie Jay's simultaneous release of claims. Appellant additionally asserts that the issue concerning Jackie Jay's capacity to agree to the global settlement constitutes a fact question which precludes the enforcement of the releases by summary judgment.
Jackie Jay's status as a party to the releases which appellant executed is a threshold issue to appellant's claims of lack of mutual assent and capacity. We conclude as a matter of law that Jackie Jay was not a party to the releases. Appellant bases his allegation regarding Jackie Jay's status as a party to the releases on the portions of the Roelkes' attorney's letter of February 14, 1997, which discuss Jackie Jay's consent to the proposed settlement. Appellant's contention is therefore based on an alleged agreement or understanding which is not expressly set out in the releases. Both of the releases contain a provision which states as follows:
This document contains the entire agreement between the Parties with regard to the settlement of Plaintiff's claims against Defendants and there are no other understandings or agreements, verbal or otherwise, among the Parties except those expressly stated in this document.
This provision is typically referred to as an integration or merger clause. The parties' execution of a written agreement presumes that all prior negotiations and agreements relating to the transaction have been merged into it and it will be enforced as written and cannot be added to, varied, or contradicted by parol evidence. See Smith v. Smith, 794 S.W.2d 823, 827-28, (Tex.App. B Dallas 1990, no writ). This rule is particularly applicable where the written contract contains an integration clause. See Smith v. Smith, supra. The inclusion of the integration clause in each of the releases prevents appellant from relying on extraneous agreements or understandings to assert that Jackie Jay was a party to the releases which he executed.
Since Jackie Jay was not a party to the releases, her possible lack of capacity could not serve as an independent ground for invalidating the releases. Morever, even if Jackie Jay were a party to the releases, only she or her representative would have standing to assert that the releases were voidable as a result of her lack of ca
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