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petitioner alleges that he signed the Release under protest,1 and
arguesthat the Release itself was the cause of the injury.
The Release form appears to be a standard document used by
IBM for all those participating in the ITO II Program. The
worksheet calculating petitioner's final paycheck shows the ITO
allowance of 49 weeks’ pay and petitioner's tenure with IBM as
just under 24-1/2 years. A terminated employee returning to work
at IBM could be required to repay a portion of the ITO allowance
based on the number of weeks paid as compared to the number of
weeks off the IBM payroll. We agree with respondent that the ITO
payment or allowance that petitioner received was not damages but
severance pay.2 See Taggi v. United States, 35 F.3d 93 (2d
Cir.1994); Glynn v. Commissioner, supra.
The Release covered contract claims as well as tort claims,and
it included only those claims arising up through the date of
signing. We acknowledge that petitioner undoubtedly suffered from
the stress of losing his job after more than 24 years with the
1 There is no indication in the record that petitioner ever
protested to IBM.
2 "Severance pay" is defined as an allowance usually based
on length of service that is payable to an employee on
termination of employment. Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary
(1985). .
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