Odorizzi Case Brief

Odorizzi Case Brief

Odorizzi v. Bloomfield School District
District Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 2, California, 1966.
246 Cal.App.2d 123, 54 Cal.Rptr. 533.
FACTS
Plaintiff - Donald Odorizzi Defendant - Bloomfield School District
The plaintiff, a school teacher, was arrested for homosexual activities. After being released from jail, the superintendent and his school's principal visited him at his apartment. They stated he should immediately resign, there was no time to consult an attorney, and if he did not resign immediately the District would suspend and dismiss him and publicize the proceedings, his arrest, and cause him “to suffer extreme embarrassment and humiliation.” The plaintiff then agreed to resign. He alleged that the superintendent and principal coerced him into resigning. At the time he signed his resignation, he had just been questioned by the police, booked, released on bail, and had gone for 40 hours without sleep. The plaintiff asserted that his resignation was invalid due to it being obtained through duress, fraud, mistake, and undue influence.
ISSUE
Is there cause of action for rescission of the resignation?
DECISION
YES
REASON
The court did not find the facts sufficient to state a cause of action for duress, menace, fraud, or mistake. However, there were sufficient grounds to justify rescission due to undue influence. "To make a good contract a man must be a free agent. Pressure of whatever sort which overpowers the will without convincing the judgment is a species of restraint under which no valid contract can be made. Importunity or threats, if carried to the degree in which the free play of a man's will is overborne, constitute undue influence, although no force is used or threatened. A party may be led but not driven, and his acts must be the offspring of his own volition and not the record of someone else's." The plaintiff was under severe emotional and mental strain at the time of resignation. Therefore it is possible that...