Court Opinion

ID: 9590905
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:59:20.138532+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:06.620478
License: Public Domain

*424Head, Justice,
dissenting. The petition alleges a mutual mistake of fact, in that the plaintiff and the defendants believed that-the plaintiff was not injured except to the extent of having a laceration on his head. The plaintiff relies upon the Code, § 37-206, that equity may relieve from a mistake of fact material to the contract. The opinion states that the plaintiff could have ascertained the extent of his injuries (Code, § 37-211), and that there was no necessity for his rushing into a settlement, since the law gives him two years in which to bring an action for his personal injuries.
The writer is unable to agree that any criticism should attach to the plaintiff by reason of the promptness of the settlement, nor can I agree that the conclusion is demanded that there was no necessity for a prompt settlement of the plaintiff’s claim. The conclusion would be as amply justified that the defendants were insisting upon an immediate and prompt settlement in order to gain an unconscionable advantage against the possibility that the plaintiff’s injuries were much more serious than would appear from external observation. The injuries were inflicted on May 7, and the settlement was made on May 8. While extreme care and caution might have dictated that the plaintiff enter a hospital and be examined and scrutinized by a staff of physicians, he apparently did what an ordinary person would have done under the circumstances who intended to be reasonable and fair, and not attempt to take any advantage of the situation wherein his injuries occurred.
As to whether or not a skilled physician might have ascertained from the nature of the plaintiff’s injuries that serious complications would result, is a question of fact, and whether or not the plaintiff was negligent under all the circumstances in failing to avail himself of medical science and skill would be a question for determination by the jury.