JAMES HAWES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. O.K. VACUUM & JANITOR SUPPLY CO., et al., Defendants-Respondents, 762 S.W.2d 865

Summary

The cleaning company issued the janitor a bucket filled with the wax remover, which injured the janitor when it spilled on his leg. The janitor gave the cleaning company a release in exchange for money, and then sued defendants. Defendants successfully moved for summary judgment and the janitor appealed. The court reversed the trial court, and remanded the matter. The court noted that while the language in the first paragraph of the release with the cleaning company plainly applied any other tortfeasor who may be liable for the injury caused by the wax remover, the language in the sixth paragraph, pertaining to holding the settlement money in trust, created ambiguity as to the parties' intentions. It was possible to infer an intent to sue other parties, the court held, and so parol evidence should have been admitted to address the ambiguity.