Del Bosque v. AT&T Advertising

Sylvia Del Bosque (plaintiff) was an employee of AT&T Advertising (AT&T) (defendant). In May 2008, Del Bosque sued AT&T for race- and sex-based discrimination and retaliation. The parties attended a mediation on November 18, 2008, and continued settlement discussions for several days afterward. Del Bosque was represented by counsel throughout the process. On November 22, 2008, Del Bosque and her counsel signed a settlement agreement in which Del Bosque would receive an amount of money in exchange for dismissing the case. Subsequently, Del Bosque filed a pro se motion to revoke the settlement based on claims of duress and incompetency or incapacity, while AT&T filed a motion to enforce the settlement agreement and for case dismissal. AT&T submitted affidavits in support of its motions. At the motion hearing, the court seemingly considered the statements of Del Bosque, her mediation attorney, and AT&T’s attorney as evidence. Del Bosque presented the district court with a signed, unsworn letter from a nurse (the health letter), which stated that due to Del Bosque’s “recent worsening condition, she may not have been in the best medical condition to enter into a legal agreement.” Del Bosque stated that she was “distraught” during the mediation and did not feel like she had enough time to consider the settlement, despite admittedly having a weekend to review it and the assistance of counsel. Del Bosque also explained that she had expected a resolution of the facts either concurrently with or before any settlement. The court heard and considered Del Bosque’s concerns and decided to enforce the settlement agreement and dismiss the case. Del Bosque appealed.