Lyon v. Patterson
Lyon v. Patterson
Opinion of the Court
The crucial issue in this appeal by plaintiff below from the grant of defendants’ motion for directed verdict is whether a condition precedent to a written contract may be proved by parol evidence.
Appellant brought suit against the Superintendent of the Banks County School System and members of the county board of education, alleging a breach of her employment contract. That the parties did enter into such a written agreement and that appellant was not permitted to teach during the specified term of the agreement is not disputed. In addition, defendants concede that the sole condition contained in the agreement — that the "contract is contingent upon the teacher continuing to hold a valid certificate issued by the State Board of Education” — has been satisfied by the plaintiff. It is contended, however, that the employment
At the conclusion of the evidence, both parties moved for a directed verdict. The transcript indicates that this was the first experience for the trial jurist with such motions being made by both litigants. Based upon a misconception from practice prior to the Civil Practice Act of 1966 that the court was to take the case away from the jury in such circumstances, the judge below discharged the jury. For the benefit of bench and bar we note that Code Ann. § 81A-150 (a) expressly provides that "a motion for a directed verdict which is not granted is not a waiver of trial by jury even though all parties to the action have moved for directed verdicts.” The trial judge then accepted defendants’ contention that the uncontroverted evidence showed a condition precedent to the contract which had not been met. Accordingly, judgment was entered for defendants. This appeal followed. Held:
"[T]here is no rule of law better settled, or more salutary in its application, than that which refuses to admit oral testimony to contradict, vary, or materially affect, written agreements. . .” Thus wrote Justice (later Georgia’s first
The application of the parol evidence rule to cases involving alleged oral conditions precedent to written contracts has been far from uniform throughout and within the various states and federal judicial districts. Moreover, the analyses contained in the opinions on this
Despite the apparent incongruity of this area of the law, the majority of jurisdictions generally permit parol evidence of a condition precedent unless the alleged condition is clearly contrary to the terms of the writing. See Corbin, Contracts, Vol. 3, § 589 (1960); 32A CJS 319, Evidence, § 935; 30 AmJur2d 172, 173, Evidence, § 1038; Restatement of the Law of Contracts 340, § 241 (American Law Institute). The oft-stated reason for allowing evidence of the oral agreement is that proof of the unfulfilled condition would show that no valid contract ever existed.
Unlike the rule which has evolved in most jurisdictions, Georgia courts have traditionally shown extreme reluctance in permitting parol evidence of an alleged condition precedent. And while some of the earlier decisions have expressed conflicting views on this subject, the issue was resolved in favor of the more restrictive rule in Smith v. Standard Oil Co., 227 Ga. 268 (180 SE2d 691).
The prevailing attitude of our appellate courts is typified by the reasoning expressed in Lee v. Garland, 208 Ga. 251 (1) (66 SE2d 223): "The whole tenor of the petition in the case at bar is to change by parol an absolute
One of the earlier cases embracing our strict application of the parol evidence rule appears factually indistinguishable from the case at bar. In Connor v. Lasseter, 98 Ga., 708 (25 SE 830), plaintiff brought suit on an employment contract wherein he was hired to teach at a private school. Although the contract appeared to be an unconditional one, defendants contended that plaintiff had failed to obtain a license to teach in the public schools. It was held that the trial court erred in allowing the introduction of parol evidence to show that the obtainment of the license was a condition precedent to the formation of the contract. "[This defense] was, in effect, nothing more nor less than an attempt to vary by parol the terms of a plain and unambiguous written contract. . . Alleged conditions and stipulations of the kind mentioned in the plea with which we are now dealing, plainly cannot be engrafted upon a contract of this kind by parol.” Connor v. Lasseter, supra, p. 710.
The above cited authorities lead us to conclude that the trial court erred in permitting proof by parol evidence of the alleged condition precedent. The only contingency stated in the agreement (the holding of a valid certificate issued by the state board of education) was satisfied by the plaintiff. Defendants cannot now show by parol evidence
The record indicates that the only issue disputed by the parties concerned the alleged condition precedent. Since parol evidence was inadmissible to prove this condition, the trial court erred in granting defendants’ motion for directed verdict and in overruling plaintiffs directed verdict motion. Accordingly, we direct the trial court to enter judgment for plaintiff.
Judgment reversed with direction.
The office of Chief Justice was not created until 1866, twenty-one years after the establishment of the Supreme Court in 1845. See 36 Ga. 19.
The majority and dissenting opinions of this case contain a compilation of Georgia decisions supporting both viewpoints of the issue.
Retired Chief Justice Grice and his father, Warren Grice (1875-1945), constitute the only family in which a father and son served as Georgia Supreme Court Justices.
070rehearing
On Motion for Rehearing.
In appellee’s motion for rehearing, it is urged that plaintiff failed to timely object to the introduction of the parol evidence, thereby waiving the objection and precluding review of the issue by this court. A determination as to the timeliness of plaintiffs objections is unnecessary, however, since parol evidence, by its nature is incompetent and without probative value to alter the terms or conditions of a written contract. "[The parol evidence] rule fixes the finality of a written contract which is unmixed with fraud respecting the subject-matter. It is moreover a rule of substantive law,
The parol evidence, being without probative value, was ineffectual to establish the alleged condition precedent and should not have been considered in ruling on the directed verdict motions. Accordingly, the evidence demanded a verdict in favor of the plaintiff.
Motion for rehearing denied.
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