Gustave A. Kirchner, Appellant v. the New Home Sewing MacHine Company, Respondent

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals reversed the judgment, holding that a general release is a comprehensive discharge that cannot be limited by parol evidence of prior negotiations or the plaintiff's lack of knowledge of claims, unless fraud, mistake, or duress is shown, and that the special clause at the end of the instrument is a separate covenant, not a limitation on the release.