Court Opinion

ID: 9474118
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:48:40.795937+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:54.991937
License: Public Domain

WELLFORD, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I fully concur in the rationale expressed by Judge Contie in Part I and Part II-A of this case that Dayton-Hudson, because of Hand’s deliberate misrepresentation, is not precluded from challenging the validity of the release, and further, that it would not be precluded from setting the release aside and recouping the $38,000 it paid over to Hand on false pretenses and/or concealment of a material fact. The difficulty with Part II-B of the opinion is my reservation and uncertainty that Michigan law permits a reformation binding Hand to Dayton-Hudson’s version of the termination arrangement particularly since Hand con*762tends that his pre-existing rights would entitle him to as much as $38,000 in the event of his discharge.1 I refrain from dissent, however, because Hand’s unconscionable conduct as an attorney upon whom Dayton-Hudson had a reasonable right to rely as a former client should not be the basis to give him a “second bite at the apple,” and to relitigate his age discrimination claim.
Under the circumstances, since Hand has never offered to return the $38,000 improperly obtained by him in the event reformation were to come about (as ordered by the district court), I am satisfied that justice is served by the affirmance of the judgment. I therefore concur in the result reached.

. The contention is vigorously disputed by Dayton-Hudson but no determinative finding on this question has been made.