Case Name: 6340 Transit Road, Inc., Doing Business as Dinettes & More, Respondent, v. Unigard Security Insurance Company et al., Appellants
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1994-11-16
Citations: 209 A.D.2d 921
Docket Number: Appeal No. 1
Parties: 6340 Transit Road, Inc., Doing Business as Dinettes & More, Respondent, v Unigard Security Insurance Company et al., Appellants.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 209
Pages: 921–922

Head Matter:
6340 Transit Road, Inc., Doing Business as Dinettes & More, Respondent, v Unigard Security Insurance Company et al., Appellants.
(Appeal No. 1.)
[619 NYS2d 1014]

Opinion:
—Order unanimously reversed on the law with costs, motion granted and complaint dismissed. Memorandum: Supreme Court erred in denying defendants' motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff accepted $452,000 in final settlement of its claim and signed a release to that effect. Its causes of action are barred by its negotiation and execution of the release (see, Rocanova v Equitable Life Assur. Socy., 83 NY2d 603, 616). The release was not obtained through economic duress; plaintiff was not compelled to agree to the terms of the settlement "by means of a wrongful threat which precluded the exercise of its free will" (Muller Constr. Co. v New York Tel. Co., 40 NY2d 955, 956). (Appeal from Order of Supreme Court, Erie County, Glownia, J.—Summary Judgment.) Present—Denman, P. J., Lawton, Wesley, Doerr and Boehm, JJ.