Case No. IP-2014-000051

[2002] 1 AC 251 as cited in Rainy Sky: “…the scope of general words of a release depends upon the context furnished by the surrounding circumstances in which the release was given. The generality of the wording has no greater reach than this context indicates.”82.Far from being nonsensical, as Mr Moody-Stuart submits, in my judgment the reasonable person with the relevant background knowledge of the parties would understand that the parties meant the scope of the Oran Release to be wider that the scope of the Burke Release and Discharge Form, i.e. with a subject-matter extending beyond claims relating to Richard Burke’s employment and termination. That reasonable person would understand that the parties meant Richard Burke to waive his €600,000 Back Pay Judgment only in return for something which he valued over and above the €26,092 employment and redundancy settlement. That something was the Oran Release.83.Turning to the Irish law point, I accept Mr Harbottle’s submission. There is no mention of Irish law in any of the documents of the Compromise Agreement. It is true that a number of Irish employment statutes are referred to in the Discharge Form, but only in a non-exhaustive list of examples of statutory claims that an employee might bring against an employer. Accordingly, in order to read the Compromise Agreement as being limited to claims under Irish law, I consider that such a term would need to be implied.