Kerry Maggio v. James Parker; the Sandwich Kings, LLC (d/b/a Jimmy John'S); Republic-Vanguard Insurance Company…

Summary

The court held that the broad release signed by Maggio did not entitle the non-signatory defendants to summary judgment because surrounding circumstances created a genuine factual dispute about whether the parties intended to release them. The court also concluded that the defendants had not established at the summary-judgment stage that the release clearly manifested an intent to confer a third-party benefit on them. The judgments denying summary judgment were affirmed, and the matter was remanded for further proceedings. WEIMER, J., and GUIDRY, J., dissented in substance with Justice CLARK's view that the release should be enforced as written, while HUGHES, J., concurred on the ground that the governing compromise provision independently prevented the release from binding the defendants.