v.
Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company
I. If verdict was rightly directed against plaintiff because of settlement and release, there is no occasion to go into whether he had a case for a jury on the claim made by his petition. So we give precedence to whether plaintiff made a jury question on the plea of avoidance interposed by him against his release.
But that the question is not foreclosed does not relieve us from dealing with it. May we say that the statements on part of Piersol were a basis upon which a jury might rightfully avoid the settlement? Piersol is not shown to be a physician, and tlie record fairly discloses that he was not one. He made no physical examination of plaintiff. The plaintiff was injured on June 1st. From then to September 30th, when Piersol spoke, plaintiff had personal knowledge of his oavii condition. It does not appear that Piersol ever had such knowledge. Plaintiff was advised by others than Piersol that plaintiff was able to do light Avork. He desired to do such work, and, on August 19th, so advised the officer to whom Piersol acted as assistant. As early as August 5th, Piersol advised he would look into plaintiff’s case. Some weeks before Piersol spoke, he sent plaintiff a check for f 160, and asked that a release sent be executed in consideration. In writing Piersol’s principal on August 19, plaintiff asks work, and advises that a doctor had promised that, if plaintiff got work he could do, the doctor would [*222] give him a release, i. e., permission to do such work, and that plaintiff has left said check and release at a stated place pending reply to this his letter. On August 25th, Piersol answered that the $160 was sent because of the application for assistance that plaintiff had made. He adds that it does not appear that the company was in any way in fault or liable. On September 8th, plaintiff wrote Piersol, reiterating that he would try passenger work until his shoulder got so he could go back on freight. He added:
“As I have been out of work for a long time, and will have some expense now in going to work, would like that you advance me payment for the time I have lost, pending our final settlement.”
This letter was answered by one of Piersol, dated September 10, 1913, and which says, concerning request to pay for lost time:
“Until such a time as a settlement is made, I have to say that I thought I was very explicit when you were in my office, and you fully understood that we cannot do anything of this kind at all; that if we pay you any money in this case we must have a complete release. In the first place, it does not appear to me that this company was at fault or liable for the accident with which you met, as I also explained to you when you were here. Whenever you are ready to make an adjustment of this matter, we are willing to make you some allowance, but it will be necessary to sign a full and complete release.”
It comes to this: Piersol is not a doctor; he has no personal knowledge of the physical condition of plaintiff; is advised by plaintiff he thinks he can do work; he tells plaintiff that there is no liability for his injui’y; plaintiff thereafter approaches him of his own volition, and after he has been told that nothing will be paid unless a full release is given: if in these circumstances Piersol said that [*223] plaintiff was making a big fuss over his injury, that same was of a trifling nature and plaintiff should have been at work in the freight service “for the past six weeks,” was there a case of fraudulent representation for a jury? We think that saying this, without more, is the expression of a naked opinion, and one upon which plaintiff had, in the circumstances, no right to rely. Such has been the holding where statements of like effect were made by physicians who had made examination. Nason v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 140 Iowa 533; Kilmartin v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co., 137 Iowa 64; Douda v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 141 Iowa 82, 88; Haigh v. White Way Laundry Co., 164 Iowa 143, 146, 147; Chicago & N. W. R. Co. v. Wilcox, (C. C. A.) 116 Fed. 913; Tatman v. Philadelphia, B. & W. R. Co., (Del.) 85 Atl. 716; Owens v. Norwood White Coal Co., 157 Iowa 389, 400; Homuth v. Metropolitan St. R. Co., (Mo.) 31 S. W. 903; Doty v. Chicago, St. P. & K. C. R. Co., (Minn.) 52 N. W. 135. And see Longshore v. Jack & Co., 30 Iowa 298. In an action for damages by false representations, the plaintiff has the burden of proving that the representations claimed were made; were false; known at the time to be false; were made with intent to mislead plaintiff; that there was reliance and damage, and no negligence in relying. Gee v. Moss, 68 Iowa 318; Nason v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 140 Iowa 533, 536; Kilmartin v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co., 137 Iowa 64, at 67; Johnson v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 107 Iowa 1, at 7. It is fraud that avoids the settlement, and “not error of layv or lesion.” Adle v. Prudhomme, 16 La. Ann. 343. It is not enough that the fact is different from the representation made by the opinion. While an opinion may base the charge of fraud (Haigh’s case, 164 Iowa 146, 147), that is not because the truth differs from the opinion, but because “the opinion and belief were fraudulently misrepresented.” Stebbins v. Eddy, 4 Mason (U. S.) 414, 417. Appellant cites Meyer v. Houck, [*224] 85 Iowa 319. It is not a fortunate selection. Its effect is that a motion to direct a verdict should be sustained when, considering all of the evidence, it clearly appears to the court that, if a verdict were found in favor of the party upon whom the burden of proof rests, it would be the duty of the court to set it aside — that a mere scintilla will not send any case to the jury. The case of Chicago & N. W. R. Co. v. Wilcox, (C. C. A.) 116 Fed. 913, adds that the settlement may not be avoided by a mere preponderance. We do not care to go so far as that, but note the case as bearing on whether plaintiff had evidence of the fraud he charges. In Nason v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 140 Iowa 533, 536, the condition of plaintiff was much more indicative of serious injury than can be claimed here. So of Nelson v. Chicago, & N. W. R. Co., (Minn.) 126 N. W. 902, and Tatman v. Philadelphia, B. & W. R. Co., (Del.) 85 Atl. 716, at 719. The dealing was at arm’s length. As said in Haigh v. White Way Laundry Co., 164 Iowa 147, that plaintiff’s hand was injured and that this was manifest and known to her must be conceded, and this independent fact was as well known to her as to the company. There was much more opportunity to consult others than was present in Owens v. Norwood White Coal Co., 157 Iowa 389, at 393, or in Nason v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 140 Iowa 533, 536, or Kilmartin v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co., 137 Iowa 64, 70. There was as much opportunity as in Douda v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 141 Iowa 82, 88. What Piersol said is not stronger than a representation by the lawyer of defendant that there was no liability, and that the injured party had no case at all. And that has not sufficed. Owens v. Norwood White Coal Co., 157 Iowa 389, 394; Johnson v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 107 Iowa 1. And see Nason v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 140 Iowa 533, 537. Bussian v. Milwaukee, L. S. & W. R. Co., (Wis.) 14 N. W. 452, 453, does not, when rightly viewed in all its aspects, run counter to these [*225] of our oavii decisions. The settlement was as fair a one and made with much more deliberation, freedom and intelligence than we find in Nason v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 140 Iowa 533, 537, Owens v. Norwood White Coal Co., 157 Iowa 389, 395, and Kilmartin v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co., 137 Iowa 64, 71. The facts distinguish Winter v. Great Northern R. Co., (Minn.) 136 N. W. 1089. We conclude that the statements made by Piersol do not make the directed verdict against plaintiff an error.
II. It is further replied that Richards, the general claim agent of defendant, fraudulently stated and represented to plaintiff that plaintiff’s shoulder would be all right, and that, in case anything happened to plaintiff on his resuming his former employment, defendant would take care of him; that defendant has not taken care of him nor given him any employment whatsoever since he was compelled to abandon his services as a freight brakeman; that these “fraudulent representations,” too, were made with intent to deceive and mislead plaintiff as to the extent of his injuries, and were relied upon. If we assume that Richards said this as to the shoulder, we have settled the effect of such statement in disposing of what Piersol said.
III. Plaintiff left Piersol and went to Hopkins, who was then the chief surgeon of defendant. Doctor Hopkins examined plaintiff, and, we must hold, then told plain [*227] tiff that plaintiff’s injury was not permanent, and that plaintiff would be able to resume his run as a freight brakeman in from four to six weeks, or words to that effect. As to this, too, it is claimed that it was a fraudulent misrepresentation, made to deceive plaintiff into the settlement. Doctor Hopkins testifies that he honestly believed what he told plaintiff. It is only by considering testimony as to plaintiff’s condition later than when Doctor Hopkins saw him that there is room to claim that the doctor was mistaken, or that his opinion was an unreasonable one. We have sufficiently indicated that, speaking generally, said statement by Hopkins made no jury question of fraudulent representation.- • Note further that there is no evidence that the doctor was present at the settlement, or spoke with reference to or in aid of a settlement. See Nason v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 140 Iowa 533, 538; Kilmartin v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co., 137 Iowa 64, 68.
3-a
On the other hand, he wants a second dislocation. He needs it to make good his claim that a second was so likely to occur after a first as that, when the surgeon of defendant told him his injury was not permanent, he knew the statement was false, because he must have known that a second dislocation was very likely to occur. He cannot hope to accomplish anything by theories which rest upon both the assertion and the denial of the same basic fact. We must ascertain what is the fact and then proceed upon the ascertainment. We find that there was a second dislocation. Plaintiff, over and again, speaks of his sec [*229] ond injury, — of his second dislocation. He pleads, and he testifies in terms, that his shoulder was dislocated a second' time when he had the accident at Beverly. He compares the pain from the time of the first dislocation with that attendant upon the second one. He complains of the exclusion of testimony seeking to elicit whether Dr. Fairchild ever told him that his shoulder was liable to become dislocated again. He accuses Hopkins and others of concealing that fact, and bases claims upon that concealment. He must follow where the existence of the second dislocation leads, upon his own theory. Since he was examined after he had sustained the second injury, what was found upon such examination is no evidence that pronouncements made by those who examined him before he was injured a second time were fraudulent. His condition after the second dislocation is no evidence of what his condition was before he sustained the second dislocation. See Kilmartin v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co., 137 Iowa 64, 68.
3-b
[*230] 3-o
3-d
“I will ask what you understood from what Mr. Hopkins told you, at the time you were examined by him in Chicago, about your going back to work in four or six weeks? Do you know what the custom of the defendant company was with reference to obtaining defendant’s doctor’s release before being permitted to resume the former employment in case of injury?”
As said, appellant is urging a non sequitur. Suppose he had been allowed to say that there was such a custom, and that he understood the doctor to represent full recovery because both knew of the custom, how can anything material be produced by such testimony so long as there is no evidence that, when the doctor spoke, there had been such “release,” — or, if there was, that Dr. Hopkins knew it. The argument for appellant consists of the perfectly inconclusive explanation that these questions were asked for the purpose of showing what the custom of the defendant was in that respect, and wlmt plaintiff understood from what Hopkins told him, and that plaintiff should have been allowed to show the defendant’s method of doing business in that respect, and what plaintiff’s understanding was.
IV. It is a serious question whether the whole controversy may not be disposed of by holding that such representations as were made stated the truth. Fifteen days before the settlement was made, plaintiff went to work as a passenger brakeman. He quit that service on October 16th and returned to his work as a freight brakeman. This was some 16 days after Dr. Hopkins had given his opinion that the injuries were not permanent. He remained in this service until December 15th. So far as appears, he would be at work still if he had not suffered a second dislocation. The only answer he can make is that his work [*232] consisted of nothing but flagging, sitting in the way car and going back and forth from the hind end. It- does not appear, even on what was found after the second injury, that the outward signs disproved the prognosis of Dr. Hopkins made before there was a second injury. We do not care to rest this opinion on a finding that as matter of law the truth was told, but point out the record on that head as some support of the trial court in holding that there were no fraudulent representations.
“Again, it is not every mistake that will lay the foundation for the rescission of an agreement. That foundation can be laid only by a mistake of a past or present fact material to the agreement. Such an effect cannot be produced by a mistake in prophecy or in opinion, or by a mis [*235] take in belief relative to an uncertain future event. A mistake as to the future unknowable effect of existing facts, a mistake as to the future uncertain duration of a known condition, or a mistake as to the future effect of a personal injury, cannot have this effect, because these future happenings are not facts, and in the nature of things are not capable of exact knowledge; and everyone who contracts in reliance upon opinions or beliefs concerning them knows that these opinions and beliefs are conjectural, and makes his agreement in view of the well-known fact that they may turn out' to be mistaken, and assumes the chances that they will do so. Hence, where parties have knowingly and purposely made an agreement to compromise and settle a doubtful claim, whose character and extent are necessarily conditioned by future contingent events, it is no ground for the avoidance of the contract that the events happen very differently from the expectation, opinion, or belief of one or both of the parties.”
The test to be applied is:
“Is the evidence in this case clear and convincing that the complainant was induced to compromise her claim and to execute her release by a mistake of a past or present fact material to her contract?”
And see Owens v. Norwood White Coal Co, 157 Iowa 389, at 411; Tatman v. Philadelphia, B. & W. R. Co., (Del.) 85 Atl. 716, at 718; Kilmartin v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co., 137 Iowa 64, 68; Johnson v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 107 Iowa 1; and Douda v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 141 Iowa 82. Again, there is a difference where, as here, the release is general. That difference is noted in McCarty v. Houston & T. C. R. Co., (Tex.) 54 S. W. 421 (Houston & T. C. R. Co. v. McCarty, [Tex.] 60 S. W. 429). There, the only injury considered was a broken ankle, while in fact there were internal injuries unknown to all the parties. It was held that, because of the general form of the re [*236] lease, it could not be set aside, there being no fraud, and the releasor having had an equal opportunity to know the extent and character of his injuries, and said:
“In the face of such an instrument, it cannot be said that all injuries which might be developed as a result of the accident, known or unknown, were not in the contemplation of the parties to the instrument, and were not embraced within its terms.”
It is said in Lumley v. Wabash R. Co., (C. C. A.) 76 Fed. 66:
“If one agrees that he will receive a given amount in satisfaction and settlement of his damages sustained through a particular accident, it is not essential that every possible consequence of the tort shall be mentioned, considered, or enumerated. The subsequent discovery by one giving such a release that he was worse hurt than he had supposed, would not, in and of itself, be ground for setting aside the settlement or limiting the release.”
We are of opinion that the judgment appealed from must be — Affirmed.