00-3250Dye v. Wargo

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“Dye has not cited, and we have not found, any case holding that a mutual release of civil liability is unenforceable under federal law. Federal courts have not embraced the view, see Owen M. Fiss, Against Settlement, 93 Yale L.J. 1073 (1984), that settlement interferes with judges’ ability to declare the law, right wrongs, and otherwise act as ombudsmen. Litigation offers a means to vindicate claims, but entitlement is not compulsion. Section 1983 and associated statutes do not employ the approach of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the handful of other federal laws that either foreclose private settlements or require their supervision by a public official. See 29 U.S.C. sec.216(c). Waivers and releases serve the interests of both parties: a waivable right is more valuable to its holder than is a non-waivable right, for the waivable right may be traded to the other side for a benefit that the holder values more highly than the right’s exercise.”

Affirmed.

DISSENTING OPINION: Diane P. Wood, J. “If the undisputed facts showed that Dye freely executed this release; if the release had been presented to the court and everyone’s expectations about it had been clear; if there was no dispute about the central fact of the scope of the prosecutor’s promise (i.e. whether the release would affect the criminal charges or not), I could agree with the majority’s disposition of this case. And these counter-factuals show that there certainly will be cases that satisfy the Rumery standards – possibly many, if both sides take care to make an adequate record when they wish to use release-dismissal agreements. But the case I have described is not Dye’s case. I would remand this part of the case to the district court for a full factual exploration of the circumstances surrounding the release. After that, it might be possible to dispose of matters at a second round of summary judgment motions, or a trial might be necessary. I respectfully dissent from this part of the judgment.”

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Miller, J., Easterbrook, J.