The parties in the above-captioned case have submitted
to me a copy of their Release and Settlement agreement for my
approval. They have agreed, in effect, to a settlement of
all obligations of Transco Products, Inc. to Jeffrey Johnson,
and of all claims of Johnson against Transco.
The agreement provides for a payment of back wages and
attorney's fees by Transco to Johnson and, upon my approval,
the withdrawal by Johnson of his complaint in this case. It
appears to be fair, adequate, and reasonable, with the exception
of one aspect of paragraph two. That section states,
in pertinent part, that Johnson releases Transco:
... from any and all actions, complaints, suits,
claims, rights and demands whatsoever, in law and
in equity, that he now has, or may have had, or hereafter
may have against Transco ...including without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, all claims
and rights relating to the events, allegations and
facts in dispute in the pending claim before the
United States Secretary to Labor entitled Case
No. 85-ERA-7 (emphasis added).
[Page 2]
The underscored language could be interpreted to be a
waiver of all claims or causes of action arising at any time
after the signing of the Release and Settlement agreement.
If that were the case, however, I could not approve it. As
such, I interpret paragraph two to be limited to a waiver
of Johnson's right to sue in the future on claims or causes
of action arising out of facts or any set of facts occurring
before the date of the Release and Settlement agreement.
Thus, with the above qualification, the parties' request
for an approval of their Release and Settlement agreement
is granted, and the case is dismissed with prejudice.
