BELLEFONTE INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign corporation, and Martin County Board of Public Instruction, Appellants, v. Albert James QUEEN, Sr., and Joyce Still, as parents and natural guardians of Albert James Queen, Jr., deceased, Appellees., 431 So. 2d 1039

Summary

Appellee parents brought a suit against appellants, a school board and an insurance company. Appellees claimed that their child's death on a crosswalk, caused by a moving school bus, was the result of the negligent supervision of appellant school board. Prior to the suit, appellees executed a special release in favor of appellant school board. Appellees claimed that they only intended to release appellant school board from any negligence involved in the actual operation of the bus, and not from any negligent supervision claim. The trial court allowed the suit to proceed. Reversing that decision on appeal, the court held that the clear and unambiguous language of the special release unequivocally released appellant school board from all claims growing out of the accident resulting in the child's injuries and death. Although appellees contended that they did not intend to release appellant school board from any negligence occasioned by the inept supervision of the crosswalk, the language...