John R. and Sara E. Wise - Page 11

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               WC did not identify a portion of the payment as a settlement           
          of a claim on account of a personal injury.  The payment herein             
          appears to be in the nature of taxable severance pay rather than a          
          payment for personal injury. We believe it is no coincidence that           
          the settlement payment to petitioner approximates the amount of             
          severance pay Mr. Creighton and petitioner had discussed as an              
          essential term in the long-promised employment contract. (The               
          settlement amount was slightly over four times petitioner's then-           
          current base salary.)  Severance pay is taxable income.  Brennan v.         
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-317.                                          
               Undoubtedly, petitioner was affected by WC's actions; however,         
          he has made no showing of any specific tort or personal injury.             
          Although wrongful employment termination possibly may result in             
          personal injury, the amount of lost wages received in such cases is         
          generally not linked to that personal injury, and, thus, such an            
          award will not qualify for the exclusion from gross income provided         
          in section 104(a)(2).  Commissioner v. Schleier, supra at 330.  In          
          this case, there is no link to personal injury.                             
               Petitioner contends that Banks v. United States, 81 F.3d 874           
          (9th Cir. 1996), is controlling.  We disagree.  In Banks, the               
          taxpayer was employed as a steel worker.  He was punched by a fellow        
          employee who was a former boxer, rendering Mr. Banks unconscious and        
          requiring 32 stitches to repair a wound to his forehead.  The               
          company attempted to discharge Mr. Banks and his fellow employee for        





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